This is another great article, but you might be a little biased. I know I am as a solo searcher. To me, finding a great partner is every bit as difficult as finding a great business. Essentially doubling the search effort, but as you stated you will have twice as many eyes to help the search after you have a partner, so it somewhat makes up for that difficulty. Maybe you already knew a great partner before starting, if so, that makes it easier.
Another aspect not mentioned is the added difficulty selling a two owner/operator business when you intend to exit. I know that most of the time when I find a business with more than one owner/operator, it increases my risk when buying it. This increase is a result of having to either do the work of both owner/operators, or immediately have to hire to replace the extra owners. Not to mention the fun some brokers play with the add backs on these multi-owner/operator companies because they only work 10 hours/week each, right? Obviously, if you are buying a two owner/operator company with a partner, that is a great fit, but would still lower it marketability compared to a one owner/operator company.
Having the wrong partner is worse than having none at all for sure. But I think I underappreciated the benefits of having someone in the tranches with you when I started out, which sparked this post.
Regarding selling, I agree that it's a risk when there are two actual operators in the driving seat. But if you hand of the operations prior to selling that won't be an issue.
This is another great article, but you might be a little biased. I know I am as a solo searcher. To me, finding a great partner is every bit as difficult as finding a great business. Essentially doubling the search effort, but as you stated you will have twice as many eyes to help the search after you have a partner, so it somewhat makes up for that difficulty. Maybe you already knew a great partner before starting, if so, that makes it easier.
Another aspect not mentioned is the added difficulty selling a two owner/operator business when you intend to exit. I know that most of the time when I find a business with more than one owner/operator, it increases my risk when buying it. This increase is a result of having to either do the work of both owner/operators, or immediately have to hire to replace the extra owners. Not to mention the fun some brokers play with the add backs on these multi-owner/operator companies because they only work 10 hours/week each, right? Obviously, if you are buying a two owner/operator company with a partner, that is a great fit, but would still lower it marketability compared to a one owner/operator company.
Having the wrong partner is worse than having none at all for sure. But I think I underappreciated the benefits of having someone in the tranches with you when I started out, which sparked this post.
Regarding selling, I agree that it's a risk when there are two actual operators in the driving seat. But if you hand of the operations prior to selling that won't be an issue.