What would Richard tell a family business owner who wants more deal flow and investment opportunities?

What I Would Tell a Family Business Owner Who Wants More Deal Flow and Investment Opportunities

1. I would start by saying: stop chasing deals and become the place where deals come to you

When family business owners tell me they want more investment opportunities, my first question is usually:

"Why would the best opportunities find you?"

The best deals are rarely won by simply looking at more websites, attending more conferences, or asking more people to send opportunities.

The best deal flow usually comes from becoming known as someone who adds value.

You want entrepreneurs, investors, operators, and other families thinking:

"Before we do this deal, we should talk to them."

2. Build a strategic position in a niche

One of the biggest lessons I teach is that families should not try to be experts everywhere.

The best investors usually develop an edge in specific areas.

That means:

"We always tell investors to find 1-2 niches to play offense in; for us, it is medical/dental practices that are profitable and scaling (we currently have equity stakes in 27 locations doing $60M a year in revenue)."

"You cannot be an expert in every niche, and you can't source deals first, exclusively, and at better valuations than everyone else in every area...you must focus to grow your wealth significantly in moderate amounts of time."

A family business owner should ask:

"What market do we want to dominate our understanding of?"

Not:

"What are all the possible things we could invest in?"

3. Create a "choke point" where opportunities naturally flow to you

One concept I talk about often is creating strategic positions - what I call choke points.

A choke point is a position where you become highly valuable because you control something important:

"This is all about how to obtain strategic turf within your industry or your niche area of investment."

"The whole motivation... is really trying to produce a triple ROI in business decisions that you make."

"The triple ROI, importantly, besides cash at the bottom line, is relationships and deal flow."

For a family business, the question becomes:

"How can every relationship, investment, and strategic move increase our access to better opportunities?"

4. Add value first before asking for access

One mistake I see constantly is people approaching wealthy families or entrepreneurs saying:

"I have a deal. Can you invest?"

That is backwards.

The best relationships usually begin with:

"How can I help?"

This is how trust compounds.

"We often help ultra-wealthy families set up their family offices for free and we make friends with them while doing so, and end up doing business together. One billionaire worked with us this way, and now we have closed 19 transactions together."

That is the model:

Create value first.

Build trust.

The opportunities follow.

5. Build proximity to people already doing what you want to do

One of the strongest lessons I have learned from interviewing billionaires and successful investors is that proximity matters.

You want to spend time around:

Because opportunities often come through relationships before they become public.

"Proximity is power."

"If you are in proximity of people playing the game at a much higher level than you are... your game is going to explode just to stay on the court."

This is why I have spent years building the Family Office Club.

The network itself becomes an asset.

6. Attend the right rooms and build trust over time

A family business owner looking for opportunities should not just collect contacts.

They should build relationships.

At our events, we have seen repeatedly that trust and context matter.

"Who refers you to the deal and where you met that person matters more than the details of the deal."

"The relationship with somebody influences a sale more than the merits of the thing you're trying to sell."

The best deal flow usually comes from:

7. Build your own deal flow machine

A family business should not depend entirely on random inbound opportunities.

Build systems.

Examples:

"Positioning yourself to have their research timing or knowledge edge is important."

The goal is to develop an information advantage.

You want to know:

before everyone else.

8. Follow up longer than everyone else

Many family businesses underestimate the importance of patience.

The best opportunities often come from relationships that have been developed for years.

"Many deals we close only come to fruition after 100+ emails of follow-up over periods of 18 months to 12 years."

The average person gives up too early.

The relationship-focused investor stays helpful.

9. Learn from how sophisticated family offices invest

Many successful family offices prefer direct investments because they want:

"Families of significant wealth are interested in diversifying their assets to preserve the longevity of their wealth. These families invest in apartment buildings, develop real estate, or buy operating businesses directly."

"If you have your own family office, you can typically attract and execute more direct investment deals."

10. My practical roadmap for a family business wanting more opportunities

If I were sitting with a family business owner today, I would recommend:

First 30 days:

Next 90 days:

Next 12 months:

Final Thought

The best family businesses do not just hunt for opportunities.

They become magnets for opportunities.

They do that by:

Deal flow is not something you buy.

It is something you build.

Go deeper on family business investing:

The playbook for this

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