At the heart of it, we have a passion for seeing small businesses succeed.

 

So much so that we believe the greatest contribution we can make as a company is to develop resources that help small business owners take steps to build transferable value and prepare for a successful exit.
And that’s why we truly think it’s not about us.

Vision

As the “boomer” demographic in America continues to age and many owners move toward retirement, statistics show that less than 25% of the small and medium sized companies (SMEs) they own will successfully transition. That means that 75% of these businesses will forfeit the benefit they could have received if they had only developed the type of value that is attractive to a potential buyer – transferable value.

Less than 25% of small businesses will successfully sell.

These staggering statistics and the picture they paint represents a pending crisis in the boomer generation for many owners counting on a successful transition to fund their retirement. These boomer demographics are coupled with the fact that the SME market segment is often times overlooked, and underserved by traditional valuation practices. Smaller firms typically lack the money or time to invest in costly financial intelligence to increase equity and lower risk. Or, the intelligence that is produced requires a Harvard MBA to understand.

These are issues we want to address. So, we’ve been working diligently to leverage our industry expertise, management depth, and corporate resources to develop tools and services owners need to grow equity and move toward successful exits when the time is right. We are committed to providing mid-market tools at a small business price point – tools and reports that are easy to understand and implement, without eliminating core intelligence. We are intent on making resources that were once out of the reach of many small business owners available to them now. Our goal is to help 100,000 SMEs build value and prepare for a future exit over the next 5 years.

We are committed to providing mid-market tools at a small business price point.

Our patent pending technology provides company specific business information based on AICPA valuation standards. The tools and reports we provide assist in assessing, forecasting, and growing equity over time and positioning owners to gain the highest benefit possible for their life’s work. We’re also building out a community of other professionals – CPAs, Coaches, Advisors and Consultants – to engage with us in this endeavor. We offer the tools and resources we’ve developed “white label” so that these professionals can use them to serve their business clients, and gain benefit for themselves in the process.

We’re passionate about helping owners preserve a legacy and leave a rich inheritance for the next generation. We’re deeply committed to this greater purpose that we believe will have a significant impact on lives and families beyond the work itself. If you’re a business owner reading this, we’d like to help you! And if you’re a professional reading this, we invite you to join us!

About Us

Equity Valuation Group was founded in 2006 by a group of business professionals seeking to establish a middle-market business valuation advisory firm capable of meeting the stringent valuation assurance requirements of the IRS, SEC, and CPA communities. The Company is headquartered in Mountain View, California with an office in Kansas City, Missouri. Our appraisal experience ranges from valuing the stock of high-technology companies with complex capital structures to helping small business owners gain an understanding of the current value of their company. Our in-house staff is comprised of full-time business valuation analysts and the community we are building includes independent appraisers with the highest business valuation credentials including ASA, CFA, ABV and CVA certifications. What really sets us apart from our competition is that we are able to provide high quality valuation services at a very reasonable price.

We’re passionate about helping owners preserve a legacy and leave a rich inheritance for the next generation.

Independence

We have an unwavering commitment to independence and objectivity in every valuation we complete. We keep our focus on offering objective, non-conflicted business appraisals – in fact, we often engage with the clients of CPA firms in conflict of interest situations. In all of our business appraisals, we adhere to the business valuation standards promulgated by the National Association of Valuators and Analysts (NACVA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and the Society of Appraisers and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).

Proven Expertise and Experience

Many of our valuation professionals have varied and valuable prior business experience including financing and evaluating merger and acquisition transactions, corporate management, and business ownership. As such, our people are not simply theoretical business appraisers like so many in the appraisal field, but valuation professionals who have real world experience in addition to top-shelf valuation skills. Our executive team and staff have valued hundreds of companies in a variety of industries throughout the U.S. We are firmly committed to the professional development and training of our people and we spend considerable resources on online databases, journals, library resources, seminars, and conferences to provide our analysts with the tools they need to produce timely and relevant valuations.

Our Principals

David A. Shoquist, MBA, CVA

Dave Shoquist is the co-founder and CEO of Equity Valuation Group. Dave oversees the production of all of EVG’s business valuations which have included estate and gift tax, shareholder transactions, ESOP, 409A, and other acquisition-related appraisals. These valuations have spanned a variety of low and high-tech manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, contractors and professional service firms in a variety of industries including health care, medical equipment, software and hardware, telecommunications, electronics, advertising, engineering, and real estate.

Prior to his work in the business valuation profession, Dave served for twenty years in Director and Executive level finance positions for both public and privately-held companies, including an IPO start up. In various management capacities with emerging and rapidly growing companies, Dave was instrumental in establishing financial planning and reporting systems, building financial infrastructure, and establishing a track record for driving profitability. He also performed extensive due diligence and assessment of value work in several business acquisitions.

Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and an MBA degree from Santa Clara University, and is credentialed by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) as a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA). Dave and his wife reside as “empty-nesters” in Mountain View, CA.

Robert Jacobson

Robert Jacobson joined Equity Valuation Group in 2011 to provide leadership and oversight of the firm’s marketing, branding and product development. Robert has developed strategic alliances with some of the industry’s largest and most notable CPA networks, as well as a leading international network of business coaches. Through the development of these multi-channel strategic alliances, EVG now offers its portfolio of products and services to a network of more than 600 professional service firms across the nation. These services enable many non-valuation professionals the benefit of engaging in the valuation niche.

Through extensive market research and the application of value innovation strategies, Robert helped realign the firm’s core competencies and design services that offer CPA, BV practitioners, exit planners and coaches the ability to leverage their skills to assist SMEs in developing transferable value over time. He also participated in developing EVG’s patented ValuePath Plus which provides professional service firms the ability to engage clients around a value- pricing model.

Prior to his work in the Business Valuation sector, Robert applied his entrepreneurial leadership to the high-tech sector and the commercial construction industry, and also has served in the non-profit arena. Robert is a committed life-long learner with a degree concentration in business and organizational management from Hope International University in Southern California. He resides in Kansas City, Missouri with his wife and 3 children.