Let me say it straight away, because it is the truth: on the technical side, plenty of people do this work well. Our market has many highly qualified advisers, from international investment banks to boutiques with an in-depth knowledge of a region or a sector. And every year new firms are set up, many of them led by seasoned professionals and managers who decide to strike out on their own, building on what they have done well all their working lives.
Priori & Partners began in much the same way, I cannot deny that. But it also grew out of two lessons I learned along the way, and out of a question that, at a certain point, I had to ask myself.
Decisions are made by people
The first lesson is that difficulties, more often than one might think, do not stem from a lack of expertise. I learned this over the course of a career in which I had the opportunity to sit on both sides of the table, in finance and in business: in large institutions, in banks, in listed and unlisted industrial companies, and with many small and medium-sized business owners. I came to know their strengths and weaknesses, my own included. And I saw how much expectations, fears and relationships between people matter. A transaction can be flawless on paper and still come to a halt over a doubt that no one had ever voiced.
The second lesson is that selling or buying a business is one thing; supporting the person who has to do it is another. It means helping them see the strengths and weaknesses of each option, giving them the confidence to make a choice, and being there even when the issue is not a technical one. Especially then, in fact.
Expertise remains essential. But trust is built over time, through listening, empathy and clarity, even when difficult choices or different points of view have to be discussed. Many problems can be resolved through common sense before technical expertise is needed. And sometimes the most honest thing you can do for someone seeking help is to decline an assignment.
The question I asked myself
It is the same question I have been putting for years to the entrepreneurs I work alongside: what you have built – what will become of it?
For me, the answer lay with the people who have worked alongside me for many years, sharing values, knowledge and goals. The decisive encouragement, I must admit, came from one of them: what we had built together, he pointed out, could not remain tied to a single person. He was right. Some professional practices come to an end when the person behind them stops working; but when you believe you have built something of value, you have to ensure it can continue. I should have thought about it much sooner.
In the end, I tried to follow the advice I give others: to pass on expertise and, above all, values. I would like P&P to be an intergenerational project, where experience and new perspectives inform one another and people take on greater responsibility over time. A venture that can continue beyond any one person’s involvement, starting with mine.
Alongside family businesses
This is also why I feel particularly close to family businesses. There, that question weighs more heavily: business decisions are intertwined with a family’s history, values and relationships, and with the expectations of several generations. Supporting them means understanding the balance between family, ownership and management, helping to clarify roles and responsibilities, and tackling in good time the issues that tend to be put off. Succession, the transition to professional management, bringing in a new shareholder: these are changes to prepare for when it still seems too early, not on the day they become urgent. And not only when there is a transition to manage, but also when there is growth to pursue.
So, why P&P?
Because decisions are made by people, and expertise alone is not enough.
Because an acquisition, a financing arrangement or a change in ownership is never just a transaction: it affects the organisation, the governance of the business and, often, the family. Considering these effects together helps ensure that decisions are consistent with one another.
Because Italy is a country of great entrepreneurs, capable and tenacious, who should be able to find advisers who work alongside them and understand not only the financial realities of their businesses, but also their family and personal circumstances.
Because a group of people who have worked well together for so long deserves a future that extends beyond any one of us.
Priori & Partners was founded for all these reasons. And to address the question that everyone who leads a business asks sooner or later: what will become of what we have built?
Marcello Priori
Founder of Priori & Partners