No employee businesses

by a searcher from Naval Postgraduate School

3 months ago

I am looking to speak with an entrepreneur who has bought a business with the owner as the sole employee. I am trying to assess the weight of key man risk on this type of  transaction and would love to hear about positive and negative experiences around it.

Thank you.

Firuz

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3 comments

intermediary from Harvard University

Pay extra attention to personality fit with a business like this. The owner has all the relationships tied to him/her and dealing with a new person that isn't as fun or friendly or full of perks (sports tickets, etc) might change those relationships very quickly. Spend as much time with the owner as you can and see if you can get a longer term consulting agreement that specifically states their job is to transfer the relationships and make introductions, etc.

1 month ago | like reply | 0 likes

searcher from The University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business

I didn't have direct employees with the transportation company took over but we had independent contractors. As far as day to day admin and management, it has been solo. I guess it depends on the nature of the business you are involved with but it can become stressful when you have to wear many different hats to be Chief of Everything. Also - it never leaves time to build any sort of strategy to grow your business. On the other hand, it is in some ways a liberating experience too.

3 months ago | like reply | 1 like

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