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No two valuation assignments are the same, and we love the challenge of variety. Grounded in more than 25 years of experience, Quist brings a holistic approach to our business. Bringing the A Team, every time. Our staff of analysts has a wide breadth of experience – ranging from investment banking to asset management, corporate finance and financial advising.

Top 3 Valuation Drivers that Help Land Early Stage Investors
When Anthony decided to start his own software company, he knew he’d need an investor to bring his idea to life. So early on, he dedicated time and effort to position his company for equity financing. In doing so, he had to learn how investors would value his business that had

Is an ESOP Right for Your Company? Pros and Cons
An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is an employee benefit plan that offers advantages to business owners, their companies, and employees. ESOPs help companies align incentives with employees by enabling them to become shareholders. Thus, ESOPs are a creative way for all stakeholders to invest in the company’s long-term success. While

New Colorado Law to Provide Funding for Small Business ESOP Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Boulder, CO. – May 22, 2017 – Legislature recently passed a bill that helps keep business in Colorado as well as protect and grow jobs. The bill supports the development and implementation of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP). Colorado- based Quist Valuation, is bringing their 35-years’ experience with

Business Continuity
This White Paper discusses business continuity planning in a way that you may not expect. Typically, when owners think of business continuity, they do so at the prompting of an insurance or legal advisor who warns that unless owners take prudent measures, they will leave their families unprotected in the event

Transfer Your Business And Avoid The Deal Killer: Taxes
When you started your business, you may have had issues on your mind other than choosing the best corporate entity form for an eventual sale. Now that you are thinking about your exit, however, entity choice (C or S corporation) has become critically important. That’s because selling your company’s assets inside

Using Stock Appreciation Rights to Keep Key Employees
The successful growth of a business and its ability to prepare for a future sale is often dependent on keeping key employees. As a result, owners frequently resort to offering valued staff an equity interest, contingent on their remaining an employee, as an incentive to keep them from leaving. The chief

Eight Ways to Exit Your Company
According to Paul Simon, there are 50 ways to leave a lover. Not being as creative as Mr. Simon, we’ve only come up with eight ways for owners to leave their companies: Transfer the company to a family member Sell the business to one or more key employees Sell to key

The Green Tsunami
As of Tuesday, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada joined Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, along with Washington DC to legalize marijuana, pushing the percentage of Americans living in states where marijuana use is legal for adults to above 20 percent. As voters in more states embrace legalized marijuana, the burgeoning cannabis industry

Successful Family Business Transfer
This White Paper describes a model that parents can use to pursue a successful business transfer from one generation to the next. It isn’t the only model that works, but because it depends on six carefully chosen elements, it has the potential for a successful completion. Exit Planning for family businesses

ESOP Opportunities
ESOPs are qualified retirement plans, typically stock bonus plans, which must invest primarily in the stock of the sponsoring employer. The sponsoring employer is your business. “Eighty-four percent of members report motivation and productivity increasing as a result of the ESOP.” –ESOP Association and the Employee Ownership Foundation Survey, August 2010.

3 Keys to Identifying a “Key” Employee
This article covers insights pertaining to the unique traits key employees possess, and how to spot them immediately when hiring or looking to delegate more responsibility. It depicts key attributes and moreover what those individuals look for in their careers and employers. Key employee incentive planning and management team development

Transferring Wealth To Children
In their desire to pass wealth to children, business owners are no different than non-business-owning parents. Business owners are different, however, in the tools they can use to transfer wealth. Whether you own a business or not, the fundamental questions are the same: How much wealth do you want to keep?

Creating Value in Your Business to Get Top Dollar When You Leave It
Did you ever wonder why one business has buyers lined up willing to pay top dollar while another sits on the market for months, or even years? What do buyers look for in a prospective business acquisition? There are many opinions about what attributes or characteristics buyers seek, but here’s what

Transferring Your Company to Key Employees
Owners wishing to sell their businesses to management, (key employees), face one unpleasant fact: their employees have no money. Nor can they borrow any—at least not in sufficient quantity to cash out the owner. As a result, each transfer method described in this White Paper uses either a long-term installment buyout

Death and Taxes vs. Preserving Wealth – The Final Exit Planning Contest
Full disclosure: Wealth preservation planning can’t help any of us cheat death, but it can help business owners to avoid taxes and achieve financial security. Read on. The ideal Exit Plan (one that provides the business exit you desire) includes a strategy to help you preserve your hard-earned wealth from unnecessary