what's their knowledge worth?

Businesses come and go. If you've ever owned one, you probably know what it feels like when your business baby is on life support.

(If you do own a business and have never felt this, my hat's off to you)

It sucks. You stare at bank accounts like a heart rate monitor. You look for help from Dr. Google and YouTube, PhD. Sleep is something other people do at night while you work extra hours to make it all go.

That's the context of this email. A business going out of business is not fun. So what I'm about to write comes with a big dose of empathy.

Many failing businesses have tons of value locked up inside. What's that knowledge, know-how, or capability worth?

Here's how I look at this (and it would be amazing to hear what you think of this idea):

• Competing businesses often have overlapping skills and knowledge. But there's usually at least one thing that adds differentiated value to each competitor.

• If we add that differentiated value to our business, combine it with what we already offer, could that be a multiplier for us?

• And if we believe that even one thing could add customers, revenue, and/or speed, should we pay for it?

The worst option for a business owner is to close up shop and walk away with nothing but memories.

Offering them money in exchange for even a part of their business could let them walk away knowing that at least a small part of what they built lives on.

What do you think? Good idea / bad idea?

Peter

(295 / 500)

PS: None of this is to say it's noble to swoop in and buy up bits and pieces of businesses. But it could be a nice growth lever.