Buying a business could be one of the most fulfilling decisions of your life

We offer a new way to do it

A new path to small business ownership

“Traditional” searchers raise money from investors to fund their full-time search. If they are successful, their investors receive equity in the business.

The model offers entrepreneurs financial support, as well as access to their investors’ expertise and networks. But that support comes at a price, with traditional searchers typically only vesting into up to 25% of the equity in their business.

“Traditional” search model

“Self-funded” model

“Self-funded” searchers venture out alone - funding their search out of savings and reaching out to investors only when they have found a business to buy.

The model offers more flexibility - as well as greater financial upside, with searchers getting up to 80% of equity at closing. But searchers are on their own until the final steps. If they cannot commit to searching full-time, they’re also less likely to find a business.

Independent sponsor model

Independent sponsors are similar to a private equity firm, except they typically do not have a fund committed in advance and raise on a deal-by-deal basis . They then find operators to hire or retain existing management.

Operators are often incentivized with equity in the business, but their share is typically much smaller than in other models. They are also often not part of the search from the beginning. As such, they are not quite business owners.

The Concorde model

We combine the best of all three models. We’ll bring you on at the beginning of your search and stay with you right until exit, ensuring that the business we acquire is not only a fit for you but that you are successful running it.

We think the risk/return profile is compelling. You’ll vest into significantly greater ownership than in the traditional or independent sponsor models, while benefitting from similar support - and without the risks of a self-funded search.

Your ownership journey with us

  • Expressing interest is the first step. But we want to make sure that we are the right fit for you and that we have the bandwidth to support you.

    During this process, we’ll get to know your background, personal and professional aspirations, skills, and commitment to purchasing a business.

  • Once we take you under our wing, we will search for the right business. We will include you in the process, but assume that you are working full-time on your day job.

    Beyond being a sound investment, we’ll make sure the business fits your interest and expertise, intended level of involvement, and risk tolerance.

    We’ll lead interactions with the sellers and their agents, price negotiation, and due diligence, and get to an LOI.

  • Actually buying a business can be dizzying process, with many steps that need to be done quickly - and correctly. We’ll manage the close process for you from start to finish, including performing confirmatory due diligence, securing financing, supporting negotiations, and liaising with other parties like lawyers and investment bankers.

    Our assumption is that we take the lead on what needs to happen to close, and you take the lead on ensuring the transition is successful.

  • The close is not the end, but the end of the beginning. Our success is directly tied to yours, and so we depend on you doing well.

    With deep experience from assisting private equity funds and senior management add value to their companies to actually running our own businesses as CEO, we know what levers to pull to move the needle. We’ll not only help you diagnose potential levers, but help execute on them too.

  • We don’t expect an exit in a predetermined timeframe. In fact, we’re happy if you just keep growing the business. We structure our acquisitions so that our returns - including yours - will be driven primarily by strong distributions, not a successful exit.

    But if you do want to move on - we’ll guide you along the way. We have experience crafting equity stories for top private equity funds, as well as selling our own businesses and will position it in the best way possible.

We intentionally want to address as diverse a group of potential operating partners as possible. If you want to own a business but time, know-how or funds are holding you back, we should talk. Our explicit mission is to enable acquisitions that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

Here are example of profiles we think could be a great fit:

  • You’re a mid-career executive with a track record of success. You want to move to the owner/operator role and have more potential upside, but can’t afford to quit your job to search for a business full-time - and wouldn’t quite know where to start even if you did

  • You’re an officer in the military looking to move into business. You know how to lead a team like few people do and would make a great CEO, but you’re new to the business world and need help to navigate the process

  • You work in management consulting, banking or private equity. You have a keen sense for what makes a business great and want more predictability and control, but the demands of your job gives you little time to search for a business

  • You’re a practitioner or tradesmen who knows the ins and outs of a licensed industry. You’d be ideally suited to carry on the legacy of somebody in your industry looking to retire - perhaps even the owner of your current firm - but wouldn’t know where to start to acquire a business of your own

Who we’re looking for

FAQs

  • We purposefully keep our criteria broad - in line with our mission to broaden potential ownership. Our two key criteria are:

    • Serious intent to acquire a business (incl. willingness and ability to personally guarantee a loan if needed)

    • Proven track record of running a business

    We explicitly encourage the following types of candidates to apply:

    • Applicants from non-traditional backgrounds (e.g., non-white, non-male)

    • Applicants who cannot pursue a search full-time

    • Mid- to late-career professionals

    • Applicants without an MBA

  • We are unable to accept the following types of candidates:

    • Applicants who have already raised a traditional search fund or are otherwise affiliated with a fund

    • Applicants with less than 10 years of professional experience

    • Applicants who are unwilling or unable to personally guarantee a bank loan if required

  • You not only can - you must. We want to ensure the business is a right fit for you. We don’t have any preset criteria on things such as industry or geography (as long as it’s within the US or Canada). Ultimately, you decide whether you want to buy the business.

    Of course, bear in mind that the narrower your criteria, the less likely you will be to find a business (or, at least, the longer it will take).

  • No, we expect all Operating Partners to cover their own living expenses. We assume that you will be working full-time prior to acquisition.

  • We will get equity in the business we acquire, typically with the same position in the waterfall as you. This aligns our incentives with yours to ensure we find a business and that it will perform well.

    We do not charge any retainer or fees prior to close.

  • Yes. Although it is not our focus, we can help you manage the close process, including securing the financing, performing confirmatory due diligence and managing the different work streams.