The Great Business

Business owners often do not realize the amount of effort required in putting together the sale of a business. A real business buyer (not just a looker) needs to be a person with the financial capability, aptitude and risk appetite to see a business sale through to completion. This article will examine some factors which might make a person a motivated small business buyer.

New Immigrant
New immigrants to Canada are usually quite motivated to establish themselves economically in their new home. Historically, immigrants from all countries have displayed an above-average aptitude for small business ownership which is most likely a result of their increased level of risk tolerance. This increased aptitude for taking on risk transfers over well to the business world where there is no guarantee of success.

Former Small Business Owner
A person who has just sold a small business usually makes for a motivated business buyer. A former business owner already knows what it is like to operate a company and has already demonstrated their willingness to take on risks and challenges. Also, if the business has recently been sold they might have some money at their disposal to invest in a new venture. Former business owners are typically not the type of individuals that would be able to go into the corporate wold after experiencing the relative freedom to make their own decisions as an entrepreneur.

Key Employee or Employees
Sometimes when a business owner is ready to retire there exists a key team of employees who have the experience and ability to operate the company. Usually, the missing pieces for this group of buyers is the financial ability. If a seller is willing to participate with some vendor financing then there may be a good deal for both parties to be had.

In today’s corporate environments, business analysis is key to the implementation of successful projects that deliver business value and create long lasting benefits. Therefore the role of the business analyst has evolved alongside that of the project manager, to initiate and complete increasingly complex projects in today’s business environments.

For a good understanding and appreciation of business analysis and the business analyst (BA) role, let’s look at some definitions:

“Business Analysis is the process of understanding business change needs, assessing the impact of those changes, capturing, analysing and documenting requirements and then supporting the communication and delivery of those requirements with relevant parties.”
Source: Business Analyst Solutions Ltd

There are at least four tiers of business analysis:

1. Planning Strategically – The analysis of the organization’s strategic business needs

2. Operating/Business Model Analysis – The definition and analysis of the organization’s policies and market business approaches

3. Process Definition and Design – The business process modelling

4. IT/Technical Business Analysis – The interpretation of business rules and requirements for technical systems (generally IT)

“A Business Analyst (BA) analyzes the organization and design of businesses; and also assess business models and their integration with technology.”
Source: Wikipedia

“The Business Analyst position is uniquely placed in the organization to provide a strong link between the Business Community and Information Technology (IT).”

Source: CSBA Body of Knowledge

Business Analysis History

Back in the 1970′s Systems Analysts took responsibility for documenting existing manual paper based processes, identifying problems and new business requirements, and then automating these processes through computerised systems. This provided significant savings in staff as well as improvements to customer service through access to electronic information.