Ten years ago, Robin Kovitz became President & CEO of Baskits—now one of Canada’s leading gift services companies—by purchasing the company from its two retiring founders. Baskits was an acquisition that had many of the qualities that lead to success for first-time CEOs, including recurring customers and a record showing years of profitable operations. But it was also a seasonal business, which is a potential red flag.

This episode is an exclusive introduction to a new podcast from Harvard Business School: Think Big, Buy Small, hosted by HBS professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff.

The show is an extension of Ruback and Yudkoff’s courses on small firms, including Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, which has been taken by thousands of MBA students, and their highly-regarded book, HBR Guide To Buying A Small Business. The episodes guide listeners through the different milestones of the journey to acquiring an enduringly profitable small business.

In this episode, they chat with Kovitz about her search process, investment criteria, and how she managed risk before and after purchasing Baskits.

Listen to more episodes of Think Big, Buy Small and follow the podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/s_29KAs0?sid=coldcall.