02 · Scale
People, process, capital. In that order.
Most private companies between five and fifty million in revenue are not short of demand. They are short of the structure to serve it without the owner in every decision.
Capital is the last of the three, not the first. Raising money into a business that cannot run without you buys a bigger version of the same problem.
The honest test
Take two consecutive weeks off without calling in. If revenue, collections or crew retention move, the constraint is people and process — not marketing, and not money.
Buyers apply the same test. It is also, not coincidentally, the single largest swing factor in what your business is worth.
People
A management layer that makes decisions you would have made. Hiring ahead of need, a real number two, and compensation that keeps the people who could leave. This is where owner-dependence actually gets solved.
Process
Written, repeatable, and followed when you are not watching. Sales, delivery, collections and the weekly operating rhythm. Undocumented process is the most common thing a buyer discounts and the cheapest thing to fix.
Capital
Growth equity, a minority recapitalization, or debt against real cash flow. Once the first two are in place, capital becomes a lever instead of a liability — and you can take money off the table without leaving.
Business on Purpose — Shawn Stinson
Where we send owners on the first two. Shawn works on the operating system of the business: documented process, the management layer, and getting the founder out of the daily path. Consulting and process referrals from the Roundtable go here.
Hillandale Advisors
Where we send owners on the third. Growth equity, minority recapitalizations and acquisition financing for lower-middle-market Carolina companies — structured by people who own operating businesses themselves.