Our guiding principles
At Waltz, we passionately believe in simplicity. We only invest in companies that meet our five guiding principles:
- Economic - British SMEs that are profitable and have a good proportion of repeating customers.
- Understanding - Industries we truly understand.
- AI-proof - Companies where technology could be used to optimize but can never become the service.
- Continuity - Where the founder or the management team will remain involved.
- Culture - Companies who share the same culture as us: positive, collaborative, straightforward, accountable.
The Waltz way
Most investment firms, large and small, follow the same rigid 'cookie-cutter' approach to acquiring and integrating businesses.
Whilst these methods can work well for large companies with layers of management and corporate shareholders, we believe they are inappropriate for transactions involving smaller founder led companies.
From many years of working solely with founder led companies, we have learned that:
- Founders know their businesses better than anyone else. In many cases they hired all of the staff and know most of the customers. Selling their company is therefore extremely personal and they care deeply about what happens next to their staff and their legacy.
- Companies have their own unique identity and culture that is understood and valued by their customers, many of whom will have been with the company since the beginning.
- As companies grow the administrative burden often increases exponentially to the point that it becomes difficult to progress further without fundamental change or investment. Such change can be complex, risky, and requires different skills and expertise.
- Time is the most precious commodity of all.
Waltz do things differently..
- We perform most acquisition due-diligence in-house, keeping it focused and appropriate for the size of the company. We don't drown management teams with endless generic requests for information.
- When structuring deals, we enable founders to meet their personal ambitions - rewarding them for their years of hard work by reducing their personal shareholdings, whilst allowing them to still enjoy some of the future growth.
- By centralising admin activities, we empower founders to focus on the business activities they truly enjoy - working with customers and delivering their service.
- We provide access to market leading IT and Technology systems, as well as guidance from recognized industry experts to help businesses to reach their full potential.
- We can't stand corporate bureaucracy. Working with Waltz means, no committees, no monthly powerpoints, no politics.
- We are fiercely protective of our small team size which enables us to build strong relationships and make confident decisions quickly.
We believe our approach is unique and yields the best results.