Almost wherever you look, the headlines are simply packed with election news right now. South Africa, India and Mexico just wrapped up elections as leading emerging markets, with the likes of the UK now hogging the headlines with the debates between party leaders.

And of course, we aren’t far away from elections in the United States, with plenty of controversy already underway.

This isn’t an easy year for founders and executives.

It’s hard to stay focused in this environment. One of the ways to keep your head down and concentrate is to focus on executing an iterative exit plan, even if you have no immediate plans to sell your business.

Why? Because things change. People change. Countries change. Outlooks change. In fact, the only constant is change. The best way to avoid a panic is to be prepared for any eventuality, which means building the best business possible. To understand more about the benefits of exit planning, co-founder The Finance Ghost penned this article.

Along the same theme, our next webinar will focus on exit planning. bizval CEO and co-founder Graham Stephen, our resident ghost, and Doug Pudney from the UK will be on the panel to share their insights from all the work done with clients in the UK market.

Get it in the diaries nice and early, with the webinar scheduled for:

Wednesday 26^th June at 11am BST | 12pm SAST

John Discroll isn’t shy to build a brand that might not appeal to everyone. As the founder of highly successful creative development agency Naked Development, his view is simple: if you’re trying to appeal to everyone, you probably won’t appeal enough to anyone in the process. With deep experience in building startups in the US market in particular, this view is worth paying attention to.

In the latest bizval podcast, John shared his views on many other topics as well, ranging from the funding ecosystem through to value ladders in organisations and the importance of culture. We have now started releasing full transcripts of our podcasts, so you can either listen to the discussion or read the transcript. Either way, don’t miss these insights!

Steven Kay, business valuation specialist at bizval, has been busy putting together some important technical articles to help you understand some of the concepts that you may come across in valuations and corporate structuring.

In this piece, he talks to the concept of adjusted EBITDA and why this is important, along with important commentary on the types of adjustments and what this means for valuations.

And in the second article that we are sharing with you today, he discusses phantom share schemes. This has nothing to do with our resident ghost and everything to do with incentivisation of staff. There are pros and cons to these schemes, with great insights in this piece to help you think through the options.

We are about so much more than just valuing your business. As trusted advisors to entrepreneurs, we love engaging on a deeper understanding of the value drivers and what the road to a successful exit looks like.

Whether you are a start-up or an established business, we would love to talk.

And if you engage with us, we might just return the favour by showcasing your entrepreneurial journey on one of our podcasts or in an article. You never know what might come from having your story told to the world.

We recently launched bizval express and we couldn’t be happier with the results we are seeing. As a first stab at a valuation, express uses the core of our methodology and delivers a plausible valuation range. For those seeking a more accurate answer, our live and concierge offerings are perfect.