Valuation Consultant

Some things are easy to appraise. Gold, for instance. Jewelry. Antiques. Because they’re priceless to the owner, however, other things are decidedly more difficult to value. For Entrepreneurs, especially, one of those things is their business.

Still, it’s the job of a Valuation Consultant — otherwise known as a Business Valuator or Business Appraiser — to put price tags on business owners’ most prized possessions: their companies.

There are many reasons for appraising a business. Perhaps the owners want to sell it. Maybe they want to bequeath it to their children, or transfer their share of ownership. Or it could be that they’re involved in a lawsuit with someone they believe has damaged their company. Regardless of the reason, your client needs a number — and, as a Valuation Consultant, you’re paid to give them one.

Of course, there’s more to it than that. You don’t just pull a number out of thin air, after all. Instead, you use standard formulas and techniques — requiring you to analyze the company’s existing assets, liabilities, cash flow, and tax burden, as well as its future financial projections — to arrive at an educated guess that’s based on business characteristics and market conditions.

Sometimes, Valuation Consultants also act as Business Brokers, advising their clients on the value of a business, then helping them negotiate either a purchase or a sale. In that case, you’re as much an adviser as you are an Appraiser.

Whether you just value the asset, or broker the entire sale, your role is simple: You interpret emotional investments as economic assets.