How much is your business worth? [business valuation methods]

This article provides an essential guide to the basics of valuing a business. A valuation can uncover areas of weakness that can be changed and improved to maximise its value. The actual value of a business is what someone will pay for it, and there are various valuation methods that experts use. These are based on: assets; price/earnings ratio; entry cost; discounted cash flow; and industry rules of thumb. All these methods are described in detail in this article.