Operating partner to owners of small and mid-sized businesses
Common Keep Partners takes on the filings, compliance, and back-office work that owners don't have time for. Fixed scope, fixed fee, and a team that does the work rather than advising on it.
The recurring work that still sits with you because there is nobody to hand it to. We take it on, run it every month, and tell you what was done.
For owners thinking about succession. We acquire the business and operate it ourselves, keeping the name on the door and the team in place.
How that worksEstablished businesses where the owner is still the one doing work that should be someone else's job.
Most engagements are up and running within two weeks of signing.
What is eating your week, what has to be filed, and when.
30 minutesScope, price, and start date. If the work changes later, the page changes first.
Within a weekYou get a short monthly note on what was done and what is coming next.
Set up in 2 weeksIt depends on the scope. You'll see the number on a one-page proposal within a week of our first call, before you commit to anything.
Our team, with specialist partners for accounting, legal, and compliance where an engagement needs them. You have one point of contact the whole way through.
Most engagements are running within two weeks of signing. If you have a deadline coming up, tell us on the first call and we'll plan around it.
We sign a confidentiality agreement before we see anything about your business, and nothing you share goes anywhere else.
You can end the engagement with 30 days' notice. We'd rather earn the next month than lock you into it.
It's where most owners start. Some, once we know the business, want to talk about what comes next, including selling. That conversation is there when you want it, and not before.
For owners thinking about what comes next
When an owner is ready to step back, we acquire the business and operate it ourselves. The name stays on the door, the team stays in place, and we buy to hold, not to flip.
An owner usually has four paths. Each one leaves something different behind.
The best path, if someone wants it and can run it.
Your business is folded into theirs, and the name usually goes with it.
Installs a manager, oversees from a board, and sells in five to seven years.
We run it ourselves, keep the team, and grow it under its own name.
Step by step
From the first conversation to closing usually takes four to six months. You set the pace, and you can stop at any point.
No documents and nothing to sign. You tell us the story of the business and what you'd want for it.
One hourWe sign a confidentiality agreement, walk the business with you, and look at the basic numbers.
2 to 4 weeksWe tell you how we value the business and what terms we'd ask, before anything is signed.
2 to 3 weeksAccountants and lawyers confirm the information, with as little disruption to the business as possible.
8 to 12 weeksWe sign and start together. You decide how long you stay and who you introduce us to.
At your paceWe'll tell you how we think about it on the first call: the profits, how steady they are, and how much of the business depends on you. Whatever we propose is written down, and nothing appears at the end that wasn't there at the start.
Each acquisition is financed on its own terms, usually a combination of our own capital, financing arranged for the deal, and in some cases a portion paid over time. We tell you the structure before you have to decide anything.
A fund buys a portfolio and oversees it from a board. We run the business ourselves, keep the team, and don't have a date on the calendar to sell.
Then it's no. Many of our conversations start years before any decision, and nothing you tell us goes anywhere.
Common Keep is a small team of operators with backgrounds in consulting, technology, and running businesses. We work with a small number of owners at a time and bring in specialist partners for accounting and legal work when an engagement needs it.
Tell us what is eating your week. We reply within two business days, and the first call is free.