MORE HANDS OFF APPROACH POST-ACQUISITION
I'm wondering if any searchers or investors have had any success with companies that already have a great management team in place and might only require monthly visits post-acquisition? We are currently self-funded but considering the possibility of acquiring 2-4 companies that wouldn't require full-time presence on our part. Thanks in advance for any feedback on this.
That said, I do think it is a viable strategy to buy a relatively simple business, run it full time for a while (e.g., 1 to 3 years) and then gradually hand off your leadership responsibilities and step away. I just don't think you can skip over that period of fully immersing yourself in the business.
As in investor I'm under the impression that the searcher is there to use his skills/brilliance to grow the business. I don't see someone growing a business, expanding product lines, increasing efficiency, etc just checking in once a month. Your management team may be able to do a good job running the business day to day, but it's going to be your entrepreneurial ingenuity that is going to take the business to the next level. And most of the gains to be had from search funds appear to come from growing the business, not just maintaining it.
As owner it's safest to know the business well but not essential. Many entrepreneurs own multiple business and delegate management almost entirely. All you need is good teams, great people - the rest is automatic.