No businessman would want to buy a going business without foreseeing that he will profit from it, right? Every businessman sees an opportunity on a certain business for sale that the existing owner can’t see. In buying a going business, you will note that the liquidation and rule-of-thumb methods rely on appraisal of the physical assets. But there is a greater way in which seems to fit the entrepreneur much better. That is to set the price on the basis of the business’s power to make profit.

You should figure profit after deducting a reasonable salary for your efforts in running the business. The profits of the business should be at least equal to or better than what you could earn by investing an amount equal to the purchase price in securities, mortgages, or other worthy investments.

The next two steps outline the procedure for arriving at a price for the business. This price is based on the future earning power of the business:
Step one: Assess the company’s power to earn. From the traditional way of operating the business, you can opt for a more effective way if this idea is one of the major flaws why that business is put on sale. For instance, you’ve seen that a particular digital printing company is situated in a place in which it should be highly profitable but they have poor printing machines for their postcard printing service and other print services, of course the business won’t be successful. What you see now as the interested buyer of the business is to set up new and high quality printing machines to meet the demand of the customers.

Step two: Capitalize these earnings at a rate in keeping with the risks involved in the business. Capitalization means the sum total of the owner’s investment and the borrowed capital invested in the business. Sometimes it is defined as the owner’s equity plus the long term debt of the business.

To estimate the future earnings of the business you should analyze its earnings from income statements for at least the five past years. Make adjustment from non-recurring items that you would not expect to encounter in the future.

With this two major steps, you now have the idea on how to assess the profit you will gain from the business you are excited on buying.

Author's Bio: 

Marion, an internet savvy as most people would describe me, works as a freelancer in LA. My experiences include writing and internet marketing related jobs. | postcard printing