Many experienced executives or managing directors find the idea of switching from employment to entrepreneurial responsibility appealing. At first glance, starting your own business seems like the obvious choice in this case. Upon closer inspection, however, there are good reasons for taking an alternative approach:
The aspiring entrepreneur is often an experienced manager who excels at motivating employees and has outstanding knowledge of technology, finance and accounting, or marketing and sales for medium-sized companies. However, these skills are not critical to success when starting a new business, because in addition to a good idea, a new business start-up requires a great deal of enthusiasm, improvisational talent, and perseverance in order to push through your own idea against all odds and navigate any obstacles that arise. The experience and skills of the aspiring entrepreneur would therefore not be used at all or only partially at first in a start-up and might never become important if the initial difficult phase is not overcome. It should not be forgotten that, as a founder, it is usually difficult to withdraw liquid funds from the company at first, which is not feasible for many of our clients with families and a certain standard of living.
We therefore recommend a different approach for senior executives with an interest in entrepreneurship. Over the next three years, 66,000 medium-sized companies in Germany will be looking for a new owner to take over the business due to succession issues. With our support, the buyer uses a financial institution to (gradually) buy into the existing company and can immediately put their skills to use. Ideally, there will be a handover phase accompanied by the departing shareholder. In technical terms, this approach is known as a management buy-in (MBI), which refers to the succession of a company by an operational manager who also acquires a stake in the company.
It is difficult for a management buy-in candidate to conduct thorough research on potential target companies alongside their demanding job as an employee. Even if they can identify an interesting company, it is often difficult and unsuccessful to approach the owner directly. This is exactly where we come in. We find the right company for you, make the initial contact, and moderate the subsequent discussions on company succession. We also assist you in arranging financing and, based on our contacts with the relevant credit institutions, can provide financing that would not be available without us.
WESTFALENFINANZ is also an accredited coach for the Stabwechsel platform, which brings business owners and successors together through professional support.