Determining the value of your business is called valuation. It is an essential number to know if you want to try to expand your business, sell it or get financing. This number can change often, so you will need to do the valuation annually just to keep it up to date. Getting started with your first valuation can seem like a huge undertaking, but it doesn’t have to stress you out. By following some simple steps, you should be able to gather what you need to complete the process.

Gathering Information

You will need a bunch of financial information to get the big picture. This starts with listing each asset of your business and providing a value for each of them. You may need to get some assistance with this or even hire professionals, depending on what your assets are.

Next, you’ll want to list your expenses. Make sure to note the frequency of these expenses. You might have weekly, monthly, and annual, for example. It’s important to note variable and fixed expenses, too. Variable expenses are those that change, while fixed expenses are always the same. For variable expenses, you can come up with an average to list for the amount.

You will also need your income statement. From this, you’ll want to take the profit or loss amount.

You’ll want to subtract the expenses from the assets and then subtract or add the profit or loss from your total. This will give you the approximate monetary value of your business.

Other Factors

However, there are other ways a business can be valued and the monetary method doesn’t take into consideration some other important factors that can add value to a business. Take a look at this infographic to get a better idea about valuation.

When you are coming up with your business value to sell it, using the monetary method may not be the best choice. This method doesn’t take into account assets that aren’t valued using a dollar amount. These are things like loyal customers, brand recognition, and unique aspects of the business, such as a one-of-a-kind product. In addition, your contributions aren’t really considered, like your skills and any business knowledge you have, such as what you gained through a degree at MVU Online. These things can’t really be valued in money, but they are still adding value to the business. For example, a well-known brand could possibly double the monetary value of a business because it helps reduce the need for excessive marketing and customer acquisition.

Another factor to consider is the up and down nature of valuation. Perhaps you have just had a bad year due to economic issues or something else out of your control. If this happens, your valuation that year could be really low and not a real indication of the value of your business, especially if there are indicators that things will bounce back in the future.

When doing a valuation for your business, you have a lot to consider. If you are seeking financial investors, then a strictly monetary valuation can work. However, if you are selling the business or deciding if you want to expand, you may want to consider other factors when making calculations to help you get a better picture of the true value of your business.