Alice + Ames

Geoff Lang

I joined my wife Stacie shortly after she launched Alice + Ames in August of 2015. At the time I was working in commercial real estate, but after the success of Alice + Ames became more apparent (and the job itself seeming way more fun), I gladly came on full time. I assisted with the operations of the site, oversaw production logistics, and handled all things accounting. Together we made a great team, and the flexibility of working from home alongside our 4 girls was the dream.

As the company grew, we made the conscious effort to outsource as many roles as possible by utilizing fulfillment centers and other various agencies. By doing this, we were able to maintain the flexible lifestyle that we initially sought out. With the exponential growth that continued, we realized that we either needed to lease an office and begin hiring team members, or pass the baton on to someone ready and willing to take it to the next level. We started looking into the possibility of selling the business, but didn’t know where to begin in terms of determining a value or locating a buyer. So we did what most people do with questions, and turned to Google. We were quickly met with various gimmicky websites that promised offers “in days”, but it only took a few laughable offers to realize our efforts were better spent elsewhere. After more searching, we came across some marketplaces that offered to list our business on their websites, but nearly all of their listings were Amazon stores with much lower volume than our company. We had little confidence that their buyer pool would even look at our company as an option.

With not much confidence, we listed with one of these sites anyway, and started the long and grueling process of taking daily calls with potential buyers. That looked like pitching ourselves and our business, answering all the same questions again and again, and then being told it wasn’t a good fit after weeks of back and forth. During this time, we also took calls with a few private bankers only to be told we were too small or niche of a company for them to take on. We were told by several people that we were in the “No Man’s Land”, meaning we were too big for individuals to acquire, but too small for private bankers to be interested. This was a defeating realization as we knew our profitable business had value, but locating the right buyer seemed impossible.

As our determination grew, we went back online and combed through portfolios of every investment group, looking for anyone involved in eCommerce. While doing that, I was also reaching out to founders on LinkedIn to hear about their experiences selling. Our story was similar to many, and we found there were little options for e-commerce brands of our size. Worth mentioning, all of this work was being done while we were still running the company at its peak volume. Luckily for us, this story has a happy ending and we were able to sell to a great group after nearly two years of searching for the perfect fit and vetting many options that were not. We look back on this exciting time fondly of course, but recognize how very helpful it would have been to have someone with experience in our corner. The process of selling a business can be such a thrilling and life changing event, but we know firsthand that it can also so stressful, very emotional, and overall taxing.

My goal at Relay Partners is to help others realize their dream and use the knowledge acquired through our experience in a valuable and personal way.