Managing Expectations: As this is our first issue, we want to level-set on appropriate expectations for our communications with you. As a two-person team whose primary obligation is to run an investment firm on behalf of our partners, creating and publishing content is not our primary focus. As such, we will publish erratically. But, our commitment will be that when we do inhabit your inbox, it will be because we believe we are sharing relevant news, commentary, or insights about small business topics that are worthy of your time and attention. We hope to build community, provide engaging educational content, and share our experiences from the perspective of investors in and owners of small businesses.
Launch of our First Content Product: In keeping with this mission and purpose, we recently completed over 40 interviews with SMB market participants and collected the responses in what we are calling the Majority Search SMB Market Observer (which some of you may have already seen as a result of Tim’s post on Twitter).
The headline quote sets the tone for the others that follow:
“There is an increasingly uncertain risk outlook…interest rates, inflation, signs of rapid deterioration in consumer spending for non-essential items. Historic performance is no longer the benchmark for future expectations that it once was.”
To read the entire memorandum or to download it as a PDF, follow this link: https://www.majoritysearch.com/blog-posts/smb-market-observer-may-2022.
What to Read Next: If you’d like to read something from the other half of our duo, Justin wrote a few essays on various business topics that can be found here: https://www.majoritysearch.com/blog-posts-categories/essays
Deep Dive Academic Research: If you’re looking to familiarize yourself with search funds, Entrepreneurship through Acquisition, and small business operations, A.J. Wasserstein (himself a former successful small business founder and CEO) at the Yale School of Management has written a library’s worth of articles on a growing list of topical areas. If you like to read about small business, there will definitely be something here for you!
Professor Wasserstein’s Case Studies are located online at https://som.yale.edu/faculty/aj-wasserstein
Parting Thought: “You only have to do a few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” – Warren Buffett