Business Reference Guide

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by a searcher from George Mason University - School of Business
in San Diego, CA, USA

2yrs ago

Business Reference Guide

I recently learned about a book called Business Reference Guide written by Tom West. I have not heard anyone bring it up until now and was looking to get some feedback about it to help determine if it's worth purchasing.

1 Like

166 Views

reply by an intermediary 2yrs ago
from Boise State University in 800 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702, USA

The Business Reference Guide gives "rule of thumb" anecdotal comments about business transactions in various industries from business brokers with experience handling transactions in those industries. It has been published for years by Business Brokerage Press and has been used primarily by business brokers to help price a business for sale. It includes some information from various databases on a high-level (not specific detail). Overall, it provides a general overview of the various industries and what deal structure may look like or multiple ranges for an industry. If you don't have any other information about business transactions in an industry, it is better than nothing. However, when I became a business appraiser, in addition to being a business broker, I rarely use it now. I do my own sold business comparable analysis using business for sale databases such as Bizcomps, DealStats, Peercomps, ValuSource, etc. However, this book may give you a place to start.

reply by a searcher 2yrs ago
from George Mason University in San Diego, CA, USA

Thanks for that feedback, Sheila. Good to know a little more about it and how it is and is not being used in today's acquisition climate.