Brad Bayless Authors New Article for CoBiz Magazine

Riding the wave into 2015
Create growth opportunities for your business
Brad Bayless

As we dive headfirst into Q1, we are likely to see companies investing in additional resources, whether that be people, equipment, software or infrastructure. It’s the time of year when change is ripe, and with confidence on the rise, we’re poised for increased opportunities for growth and change as the door swings open to 2015.

Privately held U.S. companies are entering the New Year with strong profitability and healthy sales growth, according to Sageworks, a financial information company. “Over the past twelve months, private companies are growing sales at an annual rate of 8.6 percent. Private U.S. firms are also seeing their highest net profit margins in three years, at 6.6 percent.”

With increased sales comes the need for additional resources to support growth, enhance employee productivity and improve operations so deal flow can continue.

According to Ernst & Young (EY Divestitures), the dynamics that made 2014 a record year for U.S. deal making will continue into the new year, pointing to ongoing buoyancy for the M&A market in 2015. This trend is likely to stay on course as 81 percent of executives expect the deal market to improve in the next 12 months, while 41 percent of U.S. companies have five or more deals in their pipeline versus just 8 percent of companies six months ago.

This is good news on all fronts and sets the stage for confidently marching into 2015. For companies who want to take advantage of the positive trend, are in a growth mode, in need of upgrading their capabilities from the previous year, or have been involved in recent mergers or acquisitions, a variety of financing opportunities exist. Read more and comment.