Working in PE - thinking about the family business
Hey all - short story is I'm a senior associate at a PE fund. I've been working my way up for a few years but at my current fund, upside doesn't seem great and frankly have been thinking of doing something entrepreneurial (way easier said than done) for a few years. I've got a family business in the freight forwarding space, which has done fairly well. It's got ~10 employees, doing probably ~$1M of net income a year. I've always shied away from the space since it's (i) low margin, (ii) cyclical, and (iii) quite honestly, a pretty boring space but my uncle who runs the business, is looking to retire soon. I'm thinking about dedicating some time to learning about the space and seeing how / if I can gain conviction to work on it. It's a pretty small operation at this point, fairly self sufficient, without any real business development over the years. Given the macro backdrop (ie: tariffs, lower consumer spending), not sure if it's worth it. Wanting to get any perspectives from the community here on what to think about, if anyone's taken a similar entrepreneurial path, etc.
I'm a former PE bro turned AI bro and just want to provide the data point that Freight Forwarding is one of the places where AI is actually working, full stop, some serious automation happening in certain places. If you are enterprising enough to treat the business like an owner and modernize it, and have a proclivity for action vs. analysis, then you could be an interesting owner of the business. If you are simply going to show up and continue business-as-usual, that also seems cool and I'm happy for you, but thought you should be aware of what's happening in the space vis-a-vis AI.
Wanna chat? Would love to hear more about what your seeing in terms of modernization.
Sunt est necessitatibus eveniet impedit qui et. Eius molestias modi blanditiis et beatae aperiam sequi est. Vero ea ipsum occaecati ipsam. Deleniti sapiente minus et ea. Consequatur vel necessitatibus illo placeat consequatur. Placeat necessitatibus ab eligendi aspernatur odit.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Dolores sint minima veniam tenetur. Qui sapiente voluptatem aperiam rerum pariatur placeat ea. Ratione possimus quisquam earum aut. Consequatur dolorem rem voluptatem voluptatibus provident iure perspiciatis. Tempore consectetur assumenda animi dolores modi qui.
Voluptatem reiciendis quaerat officiis quia odit aliquid culpa quos. Unde perferendis aliquam vero autem. Maiores odit omnis libero eum.
Rerum vel quia quia et. Eos cum sunt quidem cupiditate eligendi ratione libero ut. Soluta eligendi voluptatem voluptates aperiam ducimus mollitia occaecati eligendi.
Iste nihil id sit consequatur ea eos. Consequatur voluptatem nam earum aut. Deleniti adipisci in laborum eius repellendus.