America’s small business economy is at a turning point. There are over 6,000,000 SMBs in the U.S., and a majority have aging owners. As those owners retire, what happens to those businesses?
Apart from closing up shop, there are two potential outcomes:
- Large private equity-backed companies slowly buy them up, while cutting staff and increasing prices. The days of independent businesses come to an end.
- The next generation of hardworking, talented Americans takes these businesses forward. Like their predecessors, they take pride in employing their neighbors, delivering value to their customers, and investing in their communities.
Mainshares exists to fight for independent ownership, prosperous communities, and the future of America’s small business economy.
At the time of the Declaration of Independence’s signing, the vast majority of the 56 delegates owned small businesses. Ben Franklin ran a printing shop. John Hancock took over the House of Hancock, his uncle’s import/export firm. Samuel Adams worked as a partner in his family’s malthouse.
Over two centuries later, that same entrepreneurial spirit is responsible for the incredible wealth our country has created.
In 2023, there were over 134 million Americans in our workforce. Small businesses employed over 61 million of them.
Aside from their economic importance, small businesses are emblematic of the opportunity and freedom that attract the best talent in the world to our shores. Countless immigrants carry the story of the dry cleaner, pharmacy, wholesaling business, etc their parents started when first moving to this country.
In the U.S., you are rewarded for an ownership mentality, the courage to do things differently, and the value you create for your fellow Americans.
They can often recoup their money by selling to private equity, knowingly putting their customers and employees at risk. Alternatively, they can sell their business for pennies on the dollar to a trusted operator, despite having poured their heart and soul into it for decades.
The cause of that tradeoff is a capital disconnect: the very people who are best equipped to run these businesses - local operators, seasoned general managers, industry professionals – are extremely unlikely to have $500,000 of liquid assets sitting in savings. Likewise, the people who have access to easy capital – the financiers – are generally ill-equipped to take the baton.
We are lucky to have the support of allies who have rallied to our cause. From the hundreds of investors on Mainshares who are backing the next generation of owner-operators, to the dozens of successful current and former business owners who participate in the Mainshares Advisor Network, this is a team effort.
Individual ownership is too important to allow all SMBs to be controlled by the same 30 private equity funds. If you also envision a future where the Little League is sponsored by the local residential painting company and the Veterans Parade is funded by the local HVAC contractor, join our mission as a future owner-operator, investor or advisor.
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