Operational Expertise vs Finance Background

May 18, 2026

by a searcher from University of Toledo in Miami Beach, FL, USA

For those who have closed deals already: How important do you think deep operational experience is compared to pure finance/deal experience when acquiring SMBs? Seems like the answer changes a lot depending on industry. Obviously it's better to have a team/board that covers all the bases, but I'm referring to the lone wolf.

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Reply by a searcher
from University of Saskatchewan in Calgary, AB, Canada

I believe @redacted‌ has it right - a few others made similar comments too though of course. Great operators are what you need after the deal closes - the squishy bits (people for those who don’t use that lingo) and finance minded folks tend not to be able to work together effectively and the business will likely see a lot of churn and/or value leakage without a great operator in place. However, the god or goddess of operators themselves won’t be able to make it work if the deal structure was poor (particularly total debt load, covenants on the loans etc.) - additional M&A after the fact is also a lot harder without a finance skillset to help. Tag-team is best if you don’t have both sides of the coin yourself!

Reply by a professional-advisory
from Trinity College Connecticut in Scottsdale, AZ, USA

I come from an operational background, so I too may be biased, but I think specifically in small businesses, operations trumps finance experience. You can hire plenty of lawyers, bankers, advisors. There is no shortage of people who will help you structure a deal. What you can't easily find, especially in a small business, is the instinct to walk a job site, a manufacturing floor, talk to the foreman or supervisor, and know something is wrong before it shows up in the numbers. That only comes from having been inside these businesses. In an SMB there is no buffer. The problems land on you directly. Operational experience is what lets you see them coming.

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