How Does Business Valuation Work on Shark Tank?

When discussing startup firms, we often hear about the term “valuation”, but what does it mean? Anyone who’s watched a few minutes of the American business reality tv series Shark Tank, they’ll recognize business valuation to provide a figure that often riles up the Sharks! While most would think business valuation is a way of measuring the ultimate worth of the business in the future or presents its actual value today. However, on Shark Tank, business valuation serves a different purpose. For all the participants of Shark Tank, business valuation helps determine how much equity an investor will obtain in return for funds to assist the company’s growth. In this article, we will understand Shark Tank’s way of business valuation. We will discuss shark tank valuation formulas, why you should value your business and business valuation risks.

Shark tank and business valuation 

Shark Tank is a hugely successful series starring celebrity investors, including Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary. When you’re an entrepreneur presenting your firm to such venture capitalists, you should be extremely knowledgeable, particularly about figures. The theme of the competition on Shark Tank concerns business valuation, and if you follow it long enough, you’ll know that everything revolves around it.

What is Shark Tank? 

Shark Tank is an American business reality television show wherein financiers (or Sharks) listen to proposals from entrepreneurs seeking funding. The Sharks often expect a stake in the company (a portion of ownership and a cut of the earnings) in exchange for investment. The businessman receives financing in exchange for relinquishing a part in the firm, but more significantly, they connect directly to the Sharks, their networks of connections, vendors, and expertise.

How does Shark Tank work?

The show involves a group of investors known as “sharks” who select if they want to invest while business owners give presentations about their firm or products. Sharks frequently discover flaws and defects in a startup’s innovation, business proposal, or company valuation. The sharks are compensated like program cast members, but the capital they invest is theirs. 

Forecasting sales, earnings, and business valuation help decide how much to invest in the business and the proportion of ownership to contemplate. If a member of the Shark panel is willing, the business owner can negotiate a handshake deal on the broadcast. However, if all of the panel members decline, the innovator is out of luck.

Shark Tank growth and failure rates 

The show is acknowledged for causing the Shark Tank effect. Merely being featured on the program, even without any deal, can greatly improve business revenue. After the episode aired, many businesses claimed revenue increases of 10-20 times.

However, according to Shark costar Kevin O’Leary, around 20% of the handshake transactions struck on the program were not established due to the investors’ thorough research procedure. It includes product evaluation and reviewing the participants’ private and business financials post the handshake agreement. Partner shark Robert Herjavec estimates that around 90% of such withdrawals are made by the company owners, sometimes for just going on the show for exposure.

What is a business valuation? 

Business valuation determines a firm’s current worth using objective metrics and analyzing all aspects of the business. A business valuation might involve an analysis of the company’s management, debt and equity distribution, future income potential, and asset market worth. Business valuation determines a company’s fair value for a variety of purposes, including determining selling value, defining partner ownership, taxes, and even liquidation processes.

Why is it important to value your business? 

A business valuation is necessary for several reasons. A business appraisal ensures that all stakeholders’ ownership in the company is dispersed properly. It is necessary at various phases when a company seeks investors, sells a portion or all of its assets, or buys or merges with another company. Businesses must also be valued for tax purposes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires a business appraisal for its fair market worth. Some tax-related transactions, such as sales, acquisition, or transfer of stocks, are taxed based on business valuation. 

How does standard business valuation work? 

Sectors, businesses, and valuators all have different valuation techniques. Comparing similar companies, discounted cash flow models and financial statement analysis are some of the most used valuation methodologies. When these valuation techniques are reduced to their core, three widely accepted procedures are presented below-

• The asset-based method determines the worth of the firm by totaling all investments.
• The market value technique determines the worth of a firm by comparing it to the value of comparable businesses sold in the industry.
• The earning value technique, commonly used by corporations wanting to purchase or combine with another company, evaluates enterprises based on their future ability to produce money.

Business valuation on shark tank 

An entrepreneur is asking for an x amount of money for y% of their company stake. To determine whether this is a reasonable price for the sharks to pay, they must perform a few computations. Here, business valuation plays a significant role. Someone makes an offer based on their estimation of the company’s value. Often, what sharks believe a firm is valued is far more precise than what business owners believe. Let’s understand business valuation Shark Tank way.

How does business valuation work on Shark Tank?

Despite the lack of an exact formula, there is information that could assist investors in determining a company’s worth. The entrepreneurs’ expertise, the market’s magnitude, the scope of the issue the business addresses, and the company’s business income and profit potential are all to consider. Market standards may also be used to value a firm. We will discuss a few different formulas Sharks uses to value a business. 

How is a business valued on Shark Tank?

If the entrepreneur provides 25% of his/her business in exchange for $10,000 capital, he assesses his business value at $40,000. But you often see Sharks asking for specific figures and countering their argument. How does that help Sharks value the business? Here is the example

Valuation formulas/methods to value the businesses on Shark Tank 

There are four different methods of valuation used by Shark Tank investors to put a value on a startup and determine the fair offer to invest. These formulas are Earning multiple, Revenue multiple, Future market valuation, and the intangibles of valuation.

• Earning multiple – The Sharks can calculate an earnings multiple by comparing the business profit to its value based on sales revenue. For example, if the business is worth $1 million and the entrepreneur produces $100,000 in profits, the earnings multiple is 10. The Sharks will be able to evaluate the multiple to that of other businesses in the same sector. Assume the industry has a median income multiple of 12. At 12x revenues, the company is worth $1.2 million, or 12 times $100,000. In light of this assessment, the entrepreneur can rationalize the transaction for a 10% ownership in the company in exchange for $100,000 from the investors.
• Revenue multiple – If a businessman asks the Sharks for $100,000 in return for a 10% stake in the firm. Typically, the Sharks will determine how the entrepreneur considers business valuation to be $1 million in revenue. The Sharks will inquire about the previous year’s earnings. If the answer is $250,000, it will take the firm four years to generate $1 million in revenue. If the answer was $75,000, the Sharks would probably challenge the entrepreneur’s $1 million valuation. However, if the startup’s sales totaled $250,000 the year before, but the owner recently signed a sales contract with a chain of department stores to deliver $600,000 worth of goods, the valuations become extremely appealing based on the sales projection. In other words, the valuation takes into account not just the previous year’s sales revenue but additionally the company’s business channel.
• Future market valuation – The Sharks eventually want to recoup their funds and generate a profit, thus, they examine Future Market Valuation. The Sharks are expected to inquire about the entrepreneur’s revenue and profit projections for the coming three years. They evaluate those figures by comparing them to other businesses in the same industry. A future valuation can be estimated similarly to earnings and revenue multiples. The main disadvantage is that the figures are predictions and hence subject to error.
• The intangibles of valuation- Drama on the Shark Tank and the show’s popularity stems from the intangibles of valuation. In valuing firms, the Sharks, like many other professional investors, look at the complete picture, including the statistics, narrative, and experience in the business. For example, a personalized or brand anecdote can influence their valuation judgment. If a business owner has a remarkable tale of perseverance and hard work, the Sharks may consent to his or her business valuation without any argument. Regardless, Sharks do pay close interest to the numbers, which are frequently the most important aspect of agreeing to invest.

Risks to consider while valuing a business on shark tank 

There is a certain risk you must consider while valuing your business for Shark Tank. Getting a high business valuation is not always a plus point for the company. Investors frequently lend money to startups many times in rounds. When your firm begins with a mega valuation, there is frequently just one way to go: a down round.

People have the idea that they are continuously attempting to obtain the greatest possible business valuation. However, when a valuation is excessively high, even if you get investors, you face a significant chance of a ‘down round’.In the realm of valuation, perception corresponds to reality, so a flat round, or even worse, a down round, is a demotivating experience. 

Investors prefer to invest their funds into businesses that are already enjoying or are likely to experience rapid growth as a result of a financial infusion. This is why a real business valuation from a reputable valuation service is essential. It offers you an idea of the necessary pace at which you should increase your valuation for the following funding round to prevent a flat round with a comparable valuation.

Why choose Eqvista for your business valuation services?

Calculating business valuations may be difficult. Professional company appraisers are ideally suited for the job. Eqvista can handle everything from the establishment of your company to the management of shares. Eqvista was founded by a group of accountants, attorneys, valuation specialists, and entrepreneurs to assist businesses in running effectively. Startup valuations can potentially be rather expensive. Eqvista believes in providing high-quality products at affordable prices. Our implementation valuation software pricing bundle is $89, with a 5% reduction off startup 409A valuation. To begin your company valuation, just create an account on Eqvista and get your startup valued!

FAQ

1. How is the valuation of a company calculated in Shark Tank?

In most cases, the Sharks will verify the entrepreneur’s assertion that the business is worth $1 million based on its revenues. If 10% of the ownership of a firm is worth one hundred thousand dollars, then one-tenth of that company is also worth one hundred thousand dollars, which implies that 100 thousand dollars divided by ten equals one million dollars. This is how the Sharks would come to their conclusion.

2. Why do Shark Tank investors talk about pre-money valuation?

The pre-money value is typically discussed using the post-money valuation method by the sharks. Because it represents an assessment of a company’s worth prior to the infusion of fresh cash from investors, a pre-money valuation becomes an extremely useful metric to have. This valuation gives investors a foundation for establishing the equity ownership of the company or the stake held by current shareholders, as well as the value of each share that will be offered to new investors.

3. How do you calculate the valuation of a company based on equity?

The overall financial value of a company’s stock is known as the market value of equity, which is sometimes referred to as market capitalization. It is the sum of all money that shareholders have a right to claim as their share of the firm. It is determined by multiplying the current share price of a firm by the total number of shares that are currently in circulation.