1. 3 paths that will
make startups
consider a merger
By Suzzanne UhlandImage courtesy of rawpixel.com at pexels.com

2. We live in a world where everyone wants to be
either their own boss or not work at all. For those
who decide to embark on the journey that is
being an entrepreneur, they have a long and
treacherous road ahead. However, if they do
things right and they have a little bit of patience,
then success could be just around the corner.
When that moment does arrive, the founders
(and most likely the shareholders) will be ecstatic
and feel that all the hard work, long nights, and
grueling effort finally paid off. All they have to
do now is keep ensuring they are satisfying their
clients’ needs and that they are doing so without

3. losing the quality and hard work that helped them
build sustained success. For the next couple of
years, their books show some growth and the
promise of continued revenue. However, the
business world doesn’t always work that way and
there will eventually come a time where a
company will come to a fork in the road and then
they will need to make a decision which will forever
alter the company’s destiny. The decision:
deciding whether to merge with another company
or not. The fork in the road, however, is not one
single thing. There are many things that could lead
a company to consider partnering with another.

4. Suzzanne Uhland is here with her take on what can
happen to a company to make them considering
joining forces with someone else.
1. Capital is running a little low and a loan is not an
option
Raising the capital to not only start a company, but
to keep it running is one of the greatest challenges
any new company must face on a daily basis. In
order to get their business up and running, the
owners must have acquired some debt or maybe
they won a contest for entrepreneurs which gave
them some seed capital to ensure the company

5. could stay afloat and cover operating costs for the
near future. Whatever the case, the amount of
funds a company needs to operate and the
revenue generated from the business could
eventually come to a halt. As a matter of fact, it’s
quite normal for this to happen once the novelty
wears out. It is in this moment where a merger will
arise as a possibility to gain a little extra cash into
the company. If this is the case, the owners must
make sure that whatever conditions they accept in
the merger, they do not come out losing. They
must ensure that they gain the capital they need
to continue running but without handing over
control to investors.

6. 2. Business is slowing and new ideas are needed
It’s only logical for a business to start with few
products to offer customers. They can surely
sustain the business for a couple of years like that,
but eventually, they will need to come up with
fresh ideas to launch new products. A merger with
a company in the industry will let the startup gain
some fresh intake and the staff needed to research
and develop new ideas, set up focus groups, and
launch new products under the original company’s
behalf. In today’s business world, companies must
always be looking to innovate and take risks. A
merger with an experienced company could
prove quite beneficial to a startup.

7. 3. We’ve drained the knowledge well
As a startup, you have limited expertise in how to
run a company and what is needed to take it to
the next level. After all, they became successful
because of the product or service they put out
and not for their business management skills. At
some point in time, the founders and owners of
the company must consider bringing in someone
with the capabilities and experience to run the
company and make sure that it has long term
success. A merger will not only do this, but it will
also give the startup access to resources they
couldn’t otherwise be able to have.

8. Before making any decision regarding joining
forces with other companies or investors, a startup
needs to be as sure as possible that a merger will
help the company grow financially. Without some
sense of financial stability, it’s useless to consider a
merger. Even less if the merger will leave the
original stakeholders with little to no control over
decisions made regarding the product or service.
Additionally, any merger needs to be set up so that
the startup’s company culture will be kept as intact
as possible unless the investor looking to merge has
a proven track record that their company culture is
great.

9. Finally, they must be absolutely sure they need a
merger to either save the company from financial
burdens or to take it to the next level. Either way, a
merger should look to help the original owners and
not just the ones looking to partner up.