[rguzman]

> The primary value of a business is their assets, brands and expertise. All of those things will be just as valuable after the pandemic as they were before.

this doesn't seem true to me. at least the brand loses value over the pandemic, and there's likely complications from cashflow that eat into other assets.

[AnimalMuppet]

Why does the brand lose value? My favorite restaurant is still a place where I want to eat when this is all over. My favorite brand of toothpaste is still the one I want to buy. How does the brand lose value?

[hnick]

By saying the brand itself has value, aren't you saying that if the owner gets into debt and has to sell it off to someone else it'll be just as good? That wouldn't give you pause?

In many cases small businesses derive most of their quality from the actual owner. They don't respond well to drop-in replacements of key staff members and owners.

[AnimalMuppet]

Well, in the case of toothpaste, it's not a small company. The restaurant... yeah, if they changed owners and blew up what I like about the place, that would kind of stink.

Or, the new owner could be better than the old. That could happen, too.

Either way, it wouldn't be the same... unless they hired back the key players.

[hnick]

Yeah it's a bit tough for some small businesses. Anything related to style (cake decorating, floral arrangements, graphic design, sign writing, etc) or other subjective tastes will often have a brand which has value with current customers but will easily lose it if someone else takes over. Even if the work is still solid, it can alienate existing customers.