Because of their dread of facing the money head on, my parents did not buy the necessary equipment, make strategic acquisitions, or invest in new product lines. Despite steady cash flows and enviable customer contracts, they did not think anyone would be interested in investing as a partner—this was an alien concept. My parents did not find out about private equity and how the bigger view of the global competition would have helped them. They did not read or attend any conferences, not because they did not have the time, but because they just did not know. They thought financing began with the bank and ended with the stock market—nothing else. When it came to selling the business at the end of a long, emotional road, it was left to the next owner to exploit the opportunities and reap the benefits.

After spending the past decade and a half advising smart and energetic business people on strategy, I could see that their good ideas needed outside money to make them go. I also thought that banks and the stock market were the sole sources of the green stuff. I now know that this is not the case, and have written this book [This article is an excerpt from my book, Money Magnet, published by Wiley] for all business owners, whether you are early-stage, aiming at a stock-exchange listing, wanting to get some cash out of the business or looking to sell outright. The interesting part is that it does not matter if you are making $30,000 in revenue, $5M or $50M, it doesn’t make much difference. It’s a pretty similar journey.

There are millions of private equity dollars out there looking for good businesses and smart owners. Even if you think your operation is not up to snuff—perhaps it’s not large enough, making too little profit or employing too few people—you may be surprised how highly others value it. Really! I can say this because in my experience, I have often been astonished at what businesses are liked and coveted by investors—yes, even those that are not currently profitable.

McGregor Socks is such a case: After nearly closing the McGregor family business doors forever, it now has factories in faraway China, knitting up Canadian-designed creations. McGregor's core competency needed to shift from manufacturing to design, as well as making the gut wrenching decision to move operations to China. This required brand new skills: how to manage the long supply chain. It was a private equity fund, Kilmer Capital, which put up the money since they already had experience and contacts in China. For McGregor, the brothers were happy to keep running the business but it took a great deal of pain to make these tough changes. The private equity partnership got them through. Eventually, the company's dark days faded, and another excellent Canadian brand survived—and continues to fill store shelves (look for a pair next time you need socks).