Senita Athletics

Jeffrey Transtrum

My wife and I started Senita Athletics in December of 2015 using $30K of our savings, fulfilling product out of our garage, and I continued working my day job at PwC.  My wife did all the things to grow the business like designing, manufacturing, marketing and I handled everything she didn’t want to like accounting, legal, IT, HR, etc. We look back on those early days with fondness, from the excitement of making even a single sale in a day, to having too much inventory for our small house to hold, to growing by multiples several years in a row. I think time helps to smooth away the stress and speed bumps that are encountered through entrepreneurship, but make no mistake, the early days were hard! Fast forward five years and our business had grown to the point we had outgrown our first warehouse (subsequent to outgrowing our house), we were employing dozens of employees, and candidly we were making way more money than my “day job” was providing.  But through all that success, there was a desire to take some chips off the table and to give ourselves an opportunity at a slower pace of life not filled with the ups and downs of running a fast growing ecommerce brand. Our kids we just starting elementary school and sports and the idea of being more present was very appealing.

We started researching how one would go about selling their business. We found a few market places that seemed easy to use, but seemed to be geared towards smaller deals (<$1m). On the other extreme, we also read articles and success stories of $100M+ exits which were brokered by investment bankers. We ended up getting connected with a business broker who we engaged to help us find a buyer in early 2020 and then the COVID uncertainty hit (spoiler alert: COVID was great for ecommerce!). We weren’t sure how it would work out but we were glad that we could continue focusing growing our brand while the broker was out looking for potential buyers.  We had several calls with potential buyers but none that seemed to be the right fit.  As a founder, finding the right buyer isn’t just about how much money you can get, it’s also about finding someone who can take care of your baby, who you can trust to continue your legacy and make you proud of where the brand is going. In July 2020 we found just the right buyer and had an executed LOI. 

Over the next two months (I should note that closing a deal can take longer than two months, but due to certain incentives the government was issuing at the time, all parties were interested in a quick close), I spent countless hours going through due diligence requests, legal agreements, and discussing the operations of the business with the potential buyers and their service providers (legal, accounting, banking).  We were lucky that my wife could continue running/growing the business while I handled the transaction but I can understand how such a transaction can have its impact on a business and the sanity of its owners.  We closed on our exit in September 2020 and haven’t regretted our decision to sell for even one minute.

As Ethan, Geoff and I discussed the opportunity to advise ecommerce brands in their potential exits, I couldn’t think of anything more rewarding than to help those with a similar path as ours.  To provide the support, advice and network that we have established through our own exits and to walk alongside fellow entrepreneurs in what will likely be the single largest financial decision of their lives gives me the same excitement my wife and I experienced when we sold our business.