Scott Stirrett | Venture Builder
Updated: 37 minutes ago
Scott Stirrett
TL;DR: Scott Stirrett built Venture for Canada and led it for over 11 years. He then let go of control so it could thrive without him. He now applies that lens and is searching for a rural business to buy and run long term.
What's covered
1:11 | Building Venture for Canada: Scott grew a small idea into a national organization over 11 years.
7:47 | Finding a niche and growing it: Venture for Canada led in two niches others overlooked.
10:57 | Entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA): Why Scott moved into training people to buy businesses.
19:47 | What buyers and sellers should look for: Integrity, fit, financials and the stages of due diligence.
31:00 | Boards and letting go: Giving up control made the organization stronger and the business transferable.
38:26 | Scott's search and why rural: He wants a service business in Ontario or the Maritimes, ideally rural.
Key takeaways
Find a niche others overlook and be excellent at it.VFC led in work-integrated learning and in training people to buy businesses.
Test demand before building a program.400 people signed up on the landing page before the ETA pilot launched.
Integrity matters most in a sale, for buyer and seller.Meet in person for hours and watch the small things.
Fit matters as much as financials when buying.Scott weighs values, interest, skills, location and profit range.
An owner who can't let go makes a business unsellable.Good successors need real agency and decision-making.
Founder action items
List the tasks only you do in your business and hand off one.
A business that depends on you is hard to sell.
Test one new offer with a simple sign-up page and count responses.
Real sign-ups show demand before you invest.
Write down your niche and the one thing you do better than others.
Overlooked niches give a clear competitive advantage.
Question to sit with
If you stepped away for a year, what in your business would stall, and why?
Quotes worth keeping
“Passion can sometimes be overrated, passions change, but I think having an interest in the business is important."
“I think VFC ended up being way more successful and we grew to be way bigger and have way more impact because I was willing to let go.”
“I think the biggest challenge with entrepreneurship through acquisition is generally not getting the capital to get a deal done. It's about finding a good deal.”
Mentioned in the episode
Organization | Venture for Canada: Not-for-profit Scott founded and led
Organization | Venture for America: American fellowship that inspired VFC (no longer operating)
Book | HBR guide to buying a small business: Scott read it during COVID
Organization | Shorefast: Charitable foundation behind the Fogo Island Inn
Program | Entrepreneurship through Acquisition Academy: VFC program training people to buy businesses
Website | carryingplaceholdings.com: Scott's site for his business search
About This Article
Source: This article is based on a conversation with Scott Stirrett on the Rural Entrepreneur Podcast. Stirrett is the founder of Venture for Canada, which he led full-time for about 11 and a half years, and is now searching full-time to acquire a business. The framing and claims here are attributed to Stirrett.
Published by: Jarvis and Chris — the cofounders of Mi6 Agency. We're a Canadian Venture Design Studio and a Rural Entrepreneur Accelerator helping entrepreneurs build businesses that work — with or without them.
Topics covered: entrepreneurship through acquisition, buying a small business, rural business succession, letting go as founder, founder exit, nonprofit boards, due diligence, seller integrity, Venture for Canada, search for a business, work integrated learning, rural quality of life
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