About Robert Ritch
I’ve spent more than 30 years building businesses, investing in companies, working with entrepreneurs, and helping business owners solve difficult problems.
Along the way, I’ve seen companies grow rapidly, businesses struggle, deals succeed, investments fail, partnerships work—and plenty that didn’t.
Those experiences have shaped how I look at business today.
I believe most business problems become easier to solve once you identify what is actually causing them. A company may think it has a sales problem when the real issue is operations. An owner may believe the business needs more capital when better cash management would make a bigger difference. A company focused entirely on growth may be creating revenue without creating much value.
And sometimes the owner is simply too close to the business to see the problem clearly.
What I Write About
This publication is where I share practical observations and lessons from my experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor.
Most of my writing falls into four areas:
Growth & Value Creation
How businesses grow profitably, improve operations, strengthen management, and build companies that are worth more—not simply companies with more revenue.
Turnarounds & Special Situations
What I look at when a business is struggling, including cash flow, expenses, owner compensation, operations, debt, management, and the difficult decisions that sometimes have to be made.
Capital & Transactions
Capital readiness, financing options, buying and selling companies, acquisitions, M&A, due diligence and principal investing.
Strategic Relationships & Execution
Businesses rarely succeed in isolation. I write about partnerships, advisors, professional relationships, government, marketing, finance, and the other resources that can help a company execute.
Experience Has Changed How I Look at Business
One lesson I’ve learned repeatedly is that writing a check, giving someone advice or creating a strategy isn’t enough.
Execution matters.
That’s why I have always preferred being involved rather than simply standing on the sidelines. When I invest in a company, I want to understand what’s happening after the investment. When I advise an owner, I’m interested in whether the recommendations can actually be implemented—not whether they look impressive in a presentation.
I’ve also learned that more money doesn’t fix a bad business model, more revenue doesn’t necessarily create a more valuable company, and good advice doesn’t accomplish much if an owner isn’t willing to make difficult changes.
Those are the kinds of lessons I write about here.
Some articles are based on situations I’ve encountered personally. Others examine current business, economic, or regulatory developments and what they could mean for business owners.
I won’t pretend every decision I’ve made has been right. Some of the most useful lessons I’ve learned came from investments, businesses and relationships that didn’t work the way I expected.
When possible, I’ll tell you what worked, what didn’t, and what I would do differently today.
Working With Me
Today, I focus on working directly with business owners and leadership teams facing important decisions.
That might involve growing a company, improving profitability or cash flow, evaluating financing options, preparing for a transaction, dealing with a struggling business, considering an acquisition, or simply determining what should happen next.
I don’t believe every business needs a long consulting engagement. Sometimes an owner needs an experienced outside perspective, a clear assessment of the situation, and help identifying the next few decisions that matter.
That’s the role I increasingly enjoy playing.
If you’re building a business, fixing one, evaluating financing, buying one, or preparing to sell one, I hope you’ll find something useful here.
And if you’re dealing with a situation where an outside perspective could help, you can learn more about me and my advisory work at RobertRitch.com.
