This summer I faced a decision that would set the long-term direction of one of my companies: a share purchase between an existing director and a new incoming director who had previously consulted to the business.
Moments like this look simple on a LinkedIn post and feel weighty in real life. As majority shareholder, the onus sits squarely on your shoulders to produce an outcome that stands the test of time.
I worked through four scenarios repeatedly:
- Shareholders: Is this demonstrably in their best interests over the long term, not just a tidy short-term fix?
- Members: The business in question is a member organisation, does this strengthen the value our community receives?
- The Two Directors: Will both parties be set up to succeed long term, not simply “papered over” for convenience?
- Me: Am I acting with prudence and integrity for all stakeholders, prepared to live with this decision years from now?
That process reminded me of the decisions many managing partners confront: the team member who can’t progress in the firm and needs a dignified exit; the partner who’s past their sell-by date and must be helped to transition; the need to admit new partners to shake up the staleness that creeps so easily into firms etc.
In each case, responsibility concentrates on one pair of shoulders. Wisdom, not comfort, must lead.
Currently, all of this is happening while private equity flows through the profession in the UK and North America.
Structures are changing.
Client experience is changing.
Partner succession is changing.
None of that is inherently bad but it does mean the old world is fading.
I don’t see us returning to the days when the sixty-something partner sells a “book” for 1x fees to a younger partner who must get a bank loan or bleed cashflow/profit for years to fund it. Those days are running out of road.
So, as you assess the future of your practice, assess it from every angle. Make the stakeholder case. Make the client case. Make the people case. Make your own integrity case. If any one of those fails, pause. Renegotiate or rethink.
Because the only standard that preserves value and reputation is win-win or no deal. Hold that line, and you won’t just get a transaction over the line, you’ll earn a legacy.
To your success
Martin Bissett
