The Entrepreneurial Journey: The Good & the Bad of Business Ownership

It has been said that entrepreneurism is not a goal but a journey to fix a problem you, the entrepreneur, are burdened to solve. 

You have engaged the journey, and it’s been rewarding. 

The ability to be independent, exercise creativity, pursue your passion with limited oversight gives business ownership almost a dream-like quality.

Yet the picture behind the scenes is much different. It is hard work, long hours, and it is often lonely. Talent is often focused to a small group, usually your management team. You feel the daily pressure of the business growing beyond your ability to manage it. 

You also feel the burden of having to provide both strategy and structure while at the same time trying to balance personal risk and return all the while not losing yourself, your family, or the vision which prompted your journey in the first place.

The Inevitable Challenge: Profitable Growth Eventually is Capped

Despite the challenges, you see the picture of what could be. There are more opportunities than ever, but you are inclined to ease off the gas because you are at your limit.

You still have vision to grow but you recognize you may lack the talent to do so, the capital to enter new markets, develop products, build out capacity, or your risk profile after years of success has simply changed.

You are getting unsolicited calls and emails weekly from investment bankers, private equity and strategic buyers inquiring if you would consider selling your business.

The problem is that you are only being presented one option, which is a control sale to a private equity or strategic buyer.

That’s because the transaction market is broken, and institutional capital is not incented or aligned to present you any other options. 

So here’s what happens…

The Path Normally Traveled: Why It’s Often the Wrong Road

Most owners feel the only path they have is a control sale of their business.  

They hire an investment banker to help prepare them for sale. The investment banker likely doesn’t understand the business, and they are incented to sell the business on a contingent basis. 

The owner thinks the investment banker is independent, but they’re not. They’ve been selling businesses for years to the same type of buyers, and they drive a process based on financial attributes, including deal speed and certainty of close. 

In the end, the process often leads to the wrong buyer at a sub optimal price. The control sale is detrimental to other stakeholders, including employees and the community. 

The long-term value of the company is not fully optimized, and many owners face a premature separation from the company ending in a high level of seller’s remorse.

There is a Better Way: How to Optimize Long-Term Value and Not Lose Control

What no one is telling you is that you don’t have to sell full control of your business.

• What if you could select a partner with deep industry expertise. 
• What if this partner had the skill set and capabilities to address your growth constraints – commercially, operationally, and financially. 
• What if you could eliminate your downside risk without destroying your upside potential
• What if this partner aligned with you culturally 
• And what if you could have a longer view to organizational transition while still being able to fully optimize the value of your business.

You can, but the solution isn’t with traditional private equity or selling to a strategic buyer. 

The solution is with Vine Capital, a unique family office with deep industry expertise, who invests minority capital to help optimize your long-term value.

Our private source of capital and skill set allows us to create value in non-dilutive ways and then grow your business with you as a minority growth capital partner.

Our philosophy aligns with who we are and what we are about. It’s different, but so are we. 

And we’re committed to sharing with you what no one else is.