Managing Professional Support
It takes a team to acquire a business. The professionals that surround you provide significant support toward achieving your success. Selecting the right mix of professional advisors is important. Unlike the situational specialists who can…
Searching Efficiently
The search process is very time constrained; you will inevitably run out of your own money or, for funded searchers, your investors’ money. Two years might seem like a long time, but it goes by…
Reaching out for help
The quest to become an entrepreneur by purchasing a business is about learning and continuous improvement. No search is the same, nor is any searcher, therefore you have to seek out solutions to the challenges…
Reporting on search progress
As you move along the Search path, you may feel the sense of autonomy and independence that motivated your quest to run your own business. However, you are still accountable for your activities, decisions and…
What to expect while searching
The path of searching is an experience full of surprises, disappointments and lessons. Throughout the process, there are many highs and lows. While the goal of finding a seller to turn his or her legacy…
Practice and Repetition
Search cannot be mastered in a classroom, gleaned from cases histories, found on bookshelves or even in blogposts like this one. Instead, searchers must suffer through "rookie mistakes", work outside of your comfort zone, get…
When to stop searching
No searcher wants to be a quitter, especially after "sacrificing" so much to head down the path to become a CEO. However, it is important to assess your progress, the impact you are having on…
Life after winding down search
Winding down your search is a difficult decision to make after devoting so much time and energy in pursuit of your dream to run your own business. However, searchers do move on to leverage their…
Taking Over the Business
Stepping into the role of CEO of the business you acquire is the ultimate objective of your search. The skills that you will have developed and honed over the preceding 6-24 months as a searcher…
Seller After Closing
Successfully transitioning the seller from being the "Most Important Person" (MIP) to a "Previously Important Person" (PIP) can have far reaching consequences on the success of the business you acquire. Anticipating this transition during the…