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The Secure 2.0 Act of 2022 has so many rule changes in retirement accounts that it would be best to talk with your accountant about them. Here are just a few of the new changes. Check out the CNET article below for an overview on the many changes.

As of Jan. 1, 2023, Americans can now wait until age 73 to start receiving  Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from their 401(k) and Traditional IRA accounts.

Penalties for failing to take RMDs will be reduced from 50% to 25% (and even 10% if the error is corrected promptly.)

Catch-up contributions for IRAs for older Americans 50 yrs.+ will be indexed to inflation in 2024. People 60-63 in 2025 will be able to contribute up to $10,000/yr. or 50% more (whichever is greater).

In 2027, people who qualify for the Saver’s Credit will be able to receive a federal matching contribution to a retirement account.

There will now be exceptions to early withdrawals from retirement accounts for people younger than 59 ½ yrs. An emergency withdrawal of up to $1,000 can be taken and have 3 years to repay it or not. People that are impacted by federally declared natural disasters will be allowed to withdraw up to $22,000 from their IRAs or employer plans and they will not be penalized. The distribution will be treated as gross income over 3 years. The disasters can date back to Jan. 26, 2021.

There will also be the creation of a national database of retirement plans in the Dept. of Labor to enable people to find lost or misplaced accounts.

Read the following article from Peter Butler: https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/investing/retirement-account-changes-how-new-rules-will-impact-your-ira-and-401k/

Bob House, president of Bizbuysell, has written a great article in Inc. Magazine that addresses these important steps that will help you keep track of your cash flow. Keep a regular eye on your financial statements. Do you have enough cash on hand? Are you improving performance? Are your customers paying their invoices on time? Bob encourages business owners to be creative and innovative.

Step 1: Prepare a Cash Flow Analysis:
       Review Operating activities cash flow
(ARs, payroll, taxes, purchased supplies and asset depreciation)
       Review Financial activities cash flow
(Business loan payments and stocks to shareholders)
       Review Investment activities cash flow
(Includes money spent to buy or sell assets not related
to regular business operations: machinery, business
equipment or real estate)

Bob’s Tips to Raise Cash Flow
       Boost Your Accounts Receivables
(Follow up on unpaid invoices by creating payment plans
for late customers as well as incentives for on-time customers.)
Check Accounts Payable Terms
(Is there a grace period? Might revise terms.)
Reduce Expenses
(Eliminate and renegotiate)
Reassess Inventory
(Can bulk buying help?)
Reassess Prices
(Research your competition. Can you increase margins or
provide unique services?)
Lower Supply Chain Risks
(Diversify suppliers)
Optioning a Small Business Line of Credit

Step 2: Conduct a Profit and Loss Analysis          
       Review Sales over time
(Identify patterns or peaks)
       Review Sources of income
(Profitable sources vs. lower margin ones)
       Review Seasonality patterns
(When is demand high or low?)
       Review Cost of Goods Sold
(Is revenue going up with this?)
Review Net Income and Profit Margin
       (Net Income/Net Revenue x 100=Profit Margin)

Step 3: Know the Value of Your Business
Emerald Coast Business Intermediaries can help you with a Broker Opinion of Value or we can work with a third party independent valuation source. A valuation is not only important for an exit strategy, but it also serves as an important tool when working on growth strategies for your business.

For more information, check out Bob’s article:
https://www.inc.com/bob-house/how-small-businesses-can-protect-their-value-amid-inflation.html

One year ago Trinity Coleman and her family purchased Tisano’s Restaurant in Bluewater Bay through Emerald Coast Business Intermediaries. It has been a tremendous success for the Coleman family and the Bluewater community.

Trinity grew up in a restaurant family. Her mother and grandfather both owned restaurants in their hometown of Stroud, Oklahoma, and her brother currently owns a restaurant in the same town. She’s always dreamed of owning her own restaurant.

Trinity’s dream was temporarily interrupted when she met her husband, Trey Coleman, who was an Air Force officer. After getting married in 2002, Trinity and Trey started a family and moved around the world with the Air Force. When they moved to Niceville in 2021, Trinity knew it was time to take action on her dream. “I immediately fell in love with Niceville,” said Trinity. Within months she told Trey that this was the place she wanted to start her own restaurant.

After being stymied by the commercial real estate market, Trinity and Trey came to Emerald Coast Business Intermediaries for help. “Instead of starting a new business, we thought we’d see what the team at ECBI had to offer.” Through Emerald Coast Business Intermediaries, Trinity and Trey learned that an Okaloosa County Restaurant was for sale. Once they were qualified as buyers, they learned that the restaurant was Tisano’s, and they decided to take the plunge. “I’ve always known this was Trinity’s dream.  After dragging her around the world with me for the past 22 years chasing my dreams, we decided it was her turn,” said Trey.

One year later the restaurant is flourishing. Not only are sales up significantly, they’ve been able to reinvest in the facility and support the local community. Over the past year they’ve donated profits to local charities including Sharing and Caring, C.A.L.M., and Wreaths Across America.

Trinity says their recipe for success is simple. “We just want to provide a clean restaurant, with awesome food and friendly staff, at a fair price,” said Trinity. When you come visit Tisano’s, Trinity and Trey want you to feel like you’re going to a friend’s house to enjoy a great meal with good company.

If you’ve never been to Tisano’s Restaurant, we highly recommend you give it a try. The house-stuffed mushrooms and the homemade lasagna are outstanding. If you haven’t been to Tisano’s in a while, check it out. You’ll be glad you did!

Healthcare
2 NW Florida hospitals are ranked in the top 100 hospitals in the United States. Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach was named as one of the top acute care hospitals. Ascension SHHEC was also named to Newsweek’s list of Best Maternity Care Hospitals in the nation. Twin Cities Hospital in Niceville is recognized for being a top performing small community hospital.

Schools
Okaloosa County, Walton County, Santa Rosa County, Bay County, and Escambia County public school districts earned A and B rankings from the Florida Dept. of Education. The grades are based on learning and proficiency gains in core subjects as well as the district’s graduation rate for the 2021-2022 school year.
NW FL also has many great private schools in the area including pre-collegiate and Christian schools. The area also has numerous public and private colleges.

Arts, Culture & Local Activities
The Panhandle has an abundance of cultural activities including the NW Florida Ballet, the NW FL Symphony, museums, zoos, restaurants and endless year-round festivals that appeal to a wide audience. The area also boasts some of the world’s best beaches and fishing. Destin is often referred to as “The Luckiest Fishing Village in the World”.

NW Florida offers a large customer base, a skilled labor force, transportation accessibility and remarkable financial resources within a beautiful environment.

Florida’s Great Northwest https://www.floridasgreatnorthwest.com/ provides the following stats:

• 1+ Million Skilled Labor Force within a 1-hour drive time (including 3,000 separating military/yr.)
• 1 Million NW Florida residents for your Customer Base as well as the large number of tourists that enjoy visiting our great area
• $1.5 Billion in the Triumph Fund and $85M in the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund for financial resources
• 3 Commercial Airports, 3 Deepwater Seaports, FL Gulf & Atlantic Railroad and the I-10 connector
• Beautiful area offering a great quality of life
• Well known industry leaders including Boeing, Eastern Shipbuilding, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, International Paper, Trane, and Navy Federal to name a few.
• Fantastic local and regional support

Professional business intermediaries and business brokers have the experience and ability to help negotiate the sale of a business with both the seller and the buyer. In Deal Studio’s article, “Questions to Ask When Negotiating a Deal”, the author discusses 3 key questions that come up in the sale process.

Can You Bring In a Professional? A business intermediary or business broker can keep a neutral perspective and is able to see things from both sides of the negotiations. The intermediary understands all the parts of the deal that need to be resolved and completed for the deal to be finalized.

Can the Buyer and Seller Better Understand One Another? A business intermediary’s objective is for both the seller and the buyer to understand one another. Many times both sides may want certain conditions sought other than financial numbers on a paper. This could be concern about employees’ futures, or the business’ reputation & history vs. future plans to name a few.

Can Both Parties Split the Difference? Sometimes a buyer and a seller cannot come together on a deal number. One plan used in negotiation is to have them split the difference. This can work to show good will and that the parties are flexible and are willing to keep discussions open.

https://deal-studio.com/questions-to-ask-when-negotiating-a-deal/

Most banks, investors and franchisors require a business plan when purchasing an existing business or to fund a start-up business. Here are 7 important steps to follow when you are going to create a business plan. The steps are from the following article: https://www.noobpreneur.com/2021/09/23/7-crucial-steps-you-need-to-know-when-creating-a-business-plan/

Step 1: Executive Summary
You will want to spend your time writing a solid summary after you have completed steps 2-7, and include:
*The business concept that you (and all owners) are purchasing or starting up
*The business products or services you will provide
*Your marketing plans
*Your management team
*Your financial projections
*The competitive value you can bring to promote your business

Step 2: Overview of the Business
Discuss the history of the business, your goals and future plans, and ownership percentages.

Step 3: Products and/or Services
Discuss products and how they are made, and the value you bring over other competitors.

Step 4: Industry Summary
Tell about the essential industry facts such as demand, growth, and product/service awareness.

Step 5: Marketing Plan
Tell how you plan to grab initial customers and grow sales.

Step 6: Operations Details
Talk about your team and the day-to-day operations in your location(s).

Step 7: Projected Financials***#1 Step
Include at least 3 years of projected income statements, balance sheets, monthly and yearly cash flow statements, and be able to back them up!

Spend the time to write a solid business plan, and definitely ask valued mentors to proof your plan. Be your own boss!

The Emerald Coast Business Intermediaries Team attended the 2021 International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) Conference recently in Woodlands, TX. Jeff, Daniel and Michelle spent time in classes sharing and learning current broker/intermediary practices and thoughts on valuation with the Covid pandemic that hit some businesses hard in 2020.

Daniel Herring received a 2020 IBBA Chairman’s Circle Award for outstanding performance in 2020. Managing Broker, Jeff Moody, Certified Business Intermediary (CBI), facilitated a Master Mind class discussing “How Do We Deal with Uncertainty in the Current Business Brokerage Market?” Michelle Royce joined the IBBA Women’s EmpowHER Network (IWEN) that works to advance women in business brokerage.

Contact our team to help you “Be Your Own Boss!

There is no doubt that the Emerald Coast of Florida is a beautiful place to visit and enjoy a vacation. The area continually wins major travel accolades for Best Beaches/Parks, Best Family Vacations, Best Inns/Hotels and Emerging Destinations. The area is also the home to several top military bases as well as defense and cybersecurity businesses. A lot of retiring and separating military members choose to live in the area for the beauty as well as a vast array of employment opportunities.

In the last few years, the Panhandle counties and cities have been developing several new commerce and business parks. The exciting growth includes a new business park development in Walton County. The NW Florida Commerce Park is one mile south of DeFuniak Springs. The Walton County Economic Development Agency has already contracted with three businesses to be located in the park. One business is a truss manufacturer, the second is a manufactured home business, and the third is a drone manufacturer.

Milton, FL in Santa Rosa County, has a new aviation park that is almost finished with phase one construction. The Whiting Aviation Park, which is adjacent to Naval Air Station Whiting Field, has announced that its first official tenant will be the international aerospace company, Leonardo. Leonardo will be building a 100,000 SF customer support center.

In Bay County, outside of Panama City, Latitude Margaritaville Watersound’s 55+ retirement community has just opened its sales center and 13 model homes. The community will have a town center with sports areas, pool, a community service center, amphitheater and a restaurant. Other future businesses will be developed outside the main entrance. The NW Florida Beaches International Airport is an easy ride from the community allowing easy access for travel for both locals and visitors.

Come visit the Emerald Coast and see what we have to offer for living, working and playing. Be your own boss!