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Podcast | Episode 537
Private Equity Acquired and Botched Her Business. So She Bought it Back.
How often do entrepreneurs get a second chance with their first love? In this episode, join me as I converse with Cathryn Lavery, the founder of BestSelf Co., who navigated the unusual path of selling her business to a private equity firm, only to buy it back after seeing its potential falter under new management. Cathryn shares her initial reasons for selling, the insights from stepping away, and what drove her to reclaim control and re-inject her vision into the brand.
Listen in as Cathryn discusses the strategic maneuvers and negotiations involved in reacquiring her company, how she leveraged AI technology to streamline operations, and the lessons learned from viewing her business through the analytical lens of her buyers. She also dives into the tactical changes implemented post-acquisition to revitalize the brand, ensuring its alignment with her entrepreneurial spirit and long-term objectives.
You’ll learn:
- Why Catherine initially sold BestSelf Co. and what led her to buy it back. (5:10)
- Insights into using AI to streamline business operations and reduce cognitive load. (12:15)
- The negotiation process for reacquiring the company and the advantageous deal secured. (20:30)
- Practical changes implemented to revitalize and realign the business post-acquisition. (35:40)
- Catherine’s strategic use of AI in email marketing and product development to enhance efficiency. (42:50)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music
(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Cathryn Lavery of BestSelf Co.)
What Was Mentioned
- Cathryn Lavery: Website | LinkedIn
- LittleMight
- 1 Second Everyday
- Zipify Pages
- One Click Upsell – Increase Sales 15%+ with Pre-and Post-purchase Upsells. (On average, Shopify users increase sales 15% immediately after installing the app!)
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“The memo was cool because you have these experts looking at your business from a completely objective position, as far as here's the cons, here's the pros, here's what they did well, here's what they were missing. And actually a lot of it completely made sense.” - Cathryn Lavery Tweet this “The offer that I gave them—I mean, I gave them a pretty low offer in the beginning … cause I was like, look, you know, I didn't get this amount of money because you guys screwed up and didn't do this thing. So I was counting that as part of it.” - Cathryn Lavery Tweet this “I've hired humans, and then I'm also training them how to use AI to do things more efficiently. So where we might've had four or five people doing a job, we could not have two people with using AI.” - Cathryn Lavery Tweet this
Post by Andrew Youderian
Founder and Chief Instigator, eComFuel
Andrew quit an early finance job to sell CB radios online — an admittedly unorthodox career path. It set him on a course to found and sell multiple businesses, host a decade-running podcast, lecture at Harvard Business School and create eComFuel, the leading community for 7- and 8-figure online business owners. Andrew is fascinated with branding, AI, building community, investing and growing meaningful businesses that don't require sacrificing what truly matters.
