Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Key Takeaways Experienced operators bring a perspective to acquisitions that goes beyond spreadsheets and financial models.
Understanding people, processes and industry context often outweighs the biggest financial offer.
In the world of business acquisitions, buyers tend to fall into two broad camps. Some rely on spreadsheets, debt models and market comps. Others rely on lived experience. Both perspectives matter, but only operators have felt the weight of running a business from the inside, not just analyzing it from afar.
That is why operators so often make the strongest business buyers. Not because they are inherently smarter than finance-driven acquirers, but because they have boots-on-the-ground experience running and operating a business. They’ve carried payroll, fixed broken workflows, calmed angry customers, coached struggling employees and watched small decisions ripple through an entire organization. That kind of pattern recognition doesn’t come from a model — it comes from doing the work.
Related: Why Investors With an Entrepreneurial Past Are Crucial to Startup Success
Operators see what the numbers miss
There is a misconception that successful investing is mostly about numbers. Of course, financials matter, but they rarely tell the whole story. Operators see beyond what looks good on paper.
Years of managing teams, solving problems and navigating regulations build instincts for what truly drives performance. Operators know where value creation levers exist and where hidden risks lie. I’ve seen countless deals that looked perfect on paper but fell apart in real life. One healthcare business I evaluated boasted extraordinary margins thanks to a government reimbursement program. However, that revenue stream was under legislative review. A finance-only buyer might have celebrated the numbers. An operator familiar with the policy landscape knows better.
Operators understand nuance. They can spot when a business model runs on assumptions that won’t hold under pressure. They recognize the practical realities that never appear in a slide deck: the workforce gaps, the “scalable” system held together by one irreplaceable employee, the growth plan that collapses once you talk to the people actually doing the work. On paper, it all makes sense. In real life, it doesn’t move.
... continue reading