After my dad died, I ran and sold his company (2018)
An essay about a son abruptly inheriting his late father’s small chemical company in India prompts reflections on succession planning, family businesses, and the emotional weight of preserving a parent’s legacy. Commenters highlight how hard owner‑operated firms are to sell, the ethics of buyers who target distressed sellers, and why promoting insiders or converting to a co‑op is often unrealistic given capital, skills, and cultural constraints. Many contrast this case—where the heir prioritized employees and long‑term fit over maximum price—with more common outcomes in which businesses are dismantled or quietly wound down after a founder’s death.
Succession planning and family businesses
- Many note the absence of a formal succession plan, seeing it as common in small, founder‑led firms, especially where the business is tightly tied to the founder’s identity.
- Commenters discuss how children often don’t want or aren’t equipped to continue family businesses, in India and the US (e.g., HVAC, construction, manufacturing).
- Some share parallel stories of aging parents with no plan and anxiety about what happens to employees.
Sale dynamics, valuation, and “bottom feeders”
- Debate over small‑business sale multiples: some say 2–3x earnings can be fair for hands‑on, key‑person‑dependent firms; others think there’s systemic underpricing.
- Discussion of an “industry” of buyers who wait for owners to be ill or dying, then lowball.
- One side calls this exploitative, bordering on contracts under duress; another argues it is just supply/demand and sellers are not “entitled” to preferred prices.
- Some suggest markets for these niche businesses are inefficient and possibly tacitly collusive; others counter that if something consistently sells for 33% of “theoretical value,” that’s probably its real value given risk and information issues.
Why not internal CEO or co‑op?
- Multiple questions about promoting an internal manager or converting to a worker co‑op.
- Responses stress lack of broad business/generalist skills internally, limited access to capital/credit in that context, time constraints, and cultural/mental gap between “employee” and “owner.”
- Consensus: feasible in theory, but not practical here given location, scale, and urgency.
Employee welfare, culture, and PE vs strategic buyers
- Readers praise the priority given to employees and legacy when choosing a buyer.
- Some contrast this with a more purely financial “sell to highest bidder / private equity” approach, though others point out many founders do just that without guilt.
- Discussion around Indian tier‑2 cities: fewer alternative jobs, making employer responsibility feel heavier; “lifers” are common in manufacturing/industrial roles.
Co‑ops and ownership models
- Thread branches into debate over worker co‑ops vs “capitalist” ownership.
- Pro‑co‑op voices highlight large European co‑ops where workers share profits and governance.
- Skeptics list prerequisites: aligned ideology, willingness to bear risk, extra management overhead, and not all workers wanting ownership.
Personal reflections and reaction to the article
- Numerous commenters share emotionally similar experiences (death of a founder, chaotic handovers, businesses decaying under surviving spouses).
- The writing is widely described as unusually sincere and non‑self‑promotional; several suggest it has film or case‑study potential.