Lacis Partners

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, I’m a first-generation Canadian on my father’s side. My paternal grandfather emigrated from Latvia, via Sweden, in the 1950s, arriving in Canada with $60 to his name. He worked hard at many entrepreneurial ventures, from owning a fishing boat to running a butcher shop. My maternal grandparents are from New Brunswick, with my grandfather getting his start delivering potatoes for the wildly successful Harrison McCain. They almost bought the Fanny Bay Inn on Vancouver Island before buying the Irvin Hotel in Rossland, BC, in 1969. One might say that small business ownership is in my DNA.

Family

I met my wife, Suzi, when I moved to California in 2002. Our three children are fortunate to hold dual American and Canadian citizenship. We’re proud to see our middle child starting UBC in the fall of 2026. Suzi and I have worked together for most of the past 25 years.We lead simple lives. One of our core values is community involvement and contribution. Suzi and I will retire to the Parksville or Qualicum Beach area. But, we have another 10 years of gas in our tank.I’m mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially ready to buy an enduringly profitable business.

Experience

When it comes to building companies, I’ve gone from zero to one (and back to zero) three times. In addition to my MBA (UBC), these entrepreneurial learning experiences taught me a bunch about building, growing, and running small businesses.Our most recent venture was a functional fitness community gym located in Portland, Oregon. This experience is particularly relevant to buying a small, community-focused business having taught us the importance of customer experience and member empathy during the challenges of COVID.I’ve worked in the US high tech sector for the past 25 years, focused on sales operations, marketing operations, and business analytics. My experiences include Cisco (networking), Maxim Integrated (semiconductors), Amazon Web Services (SaaS), and Autodesk (design and build software).

Expertise

Making the complex simple. I do this through teaching and mentoring.Leading and motivating small teams. I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves to get the work done.Problem solving. I thrive on the challenge of the unknown and make decisions to provide optionality.Sales operations. Implementing customer relationship management (CRM) systems to manage and grow revenue.Marketing operations. I’m pretty good at graphic design and video production, too!Customer success. Obsessing over creating customers for life.Product management. Turning ideas into useful products and services.Designing, modeling, and building. Anything from spreadsheets, software systems, business processes, 3D structures, gingerbread houses, and parade floats.I do all these things with energy, zeal, humor, and a curiosity to learn.

Core Values

Our Search

As self-funded searchers, we’re looking to buy a wonderful small business within a 30-minute drive of Parksville, British Columbia. Along with my spouse, Suzi, I will be an engaged and energetic owner. Slow and steady growth is important to us. Ideally, this business will have been an upstanding contributor to the local community for over 20 years.Two industries are of interest:
  1. Lifestyle migration services
  2. Wood productsLifestyle migration services include tourism/hospitality, health and personal services, home and property services, financial/professional services, and lifestyle/leisure businesses that make retirement in the area comfortable and frictionless.Wood products of interest are smaller value‑added shops and craft/furniture businesses.Business size: $2.0M to $3.5M enterprise value (EV) representing 3 to 4 times EBITDAWe are motivated to find a close on a purchase by August of 2027!

We are not interested in retail, distribution, food services, online businesses, or franchises.

Interested? Let’s Chat

[email protected]
408-621-7833

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