Independent Sponsor · Toronto

Built to last.
Grown with purpose.

Dovetail Growth Partners is an operator-led independent sponsor. We acquire one well-run, founder-led business at a time and operate it for the long term, backed by a committed group of experienced private investors. Our focus is finding the right fit and being the right successor.

Start a Conversation Our Criteria
Taylor Miller

Taylor Miller · Founder & Operator

"I will be in the business, working alongside your team, from day one."

One acquisition at a time  ·  $1-5M EBITDA
Canada & US Northeast  ·  Long-term hold

Dovetail joint craftsmanship
Built to last

The dovetail joint holds without glue, screws, or fasteners, because the fit itself is the strength.

Your team
Stays.

The business keeps running from day one. We don't restructure on arrival, your people are what makes this worth buying.

Typical timeline
4-6 mo.

From first conversation to close. We move at a pace that works for you, there's no auction, no deadline, no pressure.

Your involvement
Your call.

Full transition, advisory role, or clean handoff, we work around what makes sense for you, your family, and your business.

Acquisition Criteria

What we are looking for

These thresholds are guidelines rather than hard constraints. Compelling opportunities outside this range will be evaluated on their merits. Click any card to expand.

01
What you do
B2B Field Services · Vertical SaaS
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What you do
Defensible, recurring businesses
02
Scale of what you've built
$1-5M EBITDA · $3-20M Revenue
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Scale of what you've built
Profitable, established businesses
03
Your team
10-75 FTEs · 10+ years in operation
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Your team
Established brand and loyal employees
04
Where you operate
Canada & US Northeast · Headquartered in Toronto
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Geography Focus Map
05
Your customer base
<25% largest customer · Diverse base
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Your customer base
Diversified, trust-based relationships
06
Why you're thinking about selling
Retirement, partial liquidity, a continuing role, or still exploring options.
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Why you're thinking about selling
No forced timelines
Our Approach

One acquisition.
Full commitment.

We are not a multi-portfolio investor spreading attention across dozens of deals. DGP is structured to acquire one business and operate it with the full focus of an owner-operator, because that is what exceptional lower middle market businesses deserve. As an independent sponsor, we assemble acquisition capital deal-by-deal from a committed group of experienced private investors, which keeps our structure flexible and our attention undivided.

01

Long-Term Ownership

We are not optimizing for a five-year exit. Our hold horizon is 5-7 years post-acquisition with no pressure to exit early. Our structural advantage, a single operator with genuine accountability to one business, is only realized over a long hold. We measure success by whether the business is stronger and better positioned a decade from now.

02

Operator-Led Growth

The operator joins as the day-to-day leader, not a board member visiting quarterly. Unlike PE portfolio managers overseeing 5-10 companies, an owner-operator runs one business, with corresponding depth of attention and accountability. We earn trust by showing up, understanding the business deeply, and making decisions alongside your team.

03

Investment Discipline

The primary objective in deal selection is not to maximize the probability of finding the best business, it is to avoid acquiring a bad one. In a single-acquisition model, the asymmetry is stark: one undisclosed liability or key-person dependency that does not survive transition can produce a zero. Our qualification framework is designed around consistent avoidance of existential risk, not optimization of maximum upside on any given deal.

How We Work

A process built around respect

Selling a business is one of the most consequential decisions an entrepreneur will make. Our process is transparent, low-disruption, and always at the pace that makes sense for you. Click each step to expand.

01

Initial Conversation

A confidential, no-pressure conversation to understand your business, your timeline, and what matters most in a transition. Many of the best private acquisitions result from relationships cultivated over 12-18 months before an LOI is ever submitted. We are built for that cadence: systematic, patient, and documented.
02

Mutual NDA & Preliminary Review

We sign a mutual NDA before reviewing any financial detail. Confidentiality is not a courtesy, it is a firm commitment. Your employees, customers, and competitors will not learn of this process from us. We review your CIM or financials on a completely confidential basis and move at your pace.
03

Letter of Intent

A clear, clean LOI that reflects our genuine interest. We do not use LOIs as leverage or negotiating tools, they represent a good-faith commitment to close on fair terms. Our deal structure is intentionally flexible: seller notes, earn-outs, rollover equity, and phased transitions can all be accommodated based on what makes the most sense for you.
04

Focused Diligence

Organized, purposeful diligence designed to minimize disruption to your team and operations. We bring 20+ institutional due diligence engagements from Bain & Company to this process, we ask focused questions, share what we find openly, and complete diligence in 30-45 days. Diligence is a two-way process: our aim is to understand what you have built, not to find leverage.
05

Close & Transition

We work closely with your advisors and, critically, with you, through close and well into the transition period. Phase 1 of our ownership (months 1-6) is explicitly a stabilize-and-learn phase: structured knowledge transfer, financial baseline installation, and team assessment before any significant changes are made. Warm introductions to customers and employees are not optional, they are how we protect what you built.
06

Value Creation (Years 1-5+)

Our value creation follows a structured, phased framework:
  • Phase 1 (Months 1-6): Stabilize & Learn, knowledge transfer, KPI dashboards, team assessment, 1-2 quick wins
  • Phase 2 (Months 7-24): Professionalize & Grow, pricing reviews, CRM discipline, process standardization, targeted technology enablement
  • Phase 3 (Year 2-5+): Value Maximization, selective tuck-in M&A, geographic expansion, management depth, exit positioning
Taylor Miller
The Operator

Taylor Miller

Founder & Operator

I founded Dovetail Growth Partners because I wanted to own and operate a business, not advise on them, not manage a portfolio of them. One business, run well, for a long time. That is the entire thesis.

I have spent the better part of a decade working inside acquisitions, restructurings, and operating businesses across Canada and the US, conducting commercial due diligence, supporting value creation post-close, and integrating merged organizations. That work, primarily at Bain & Company, gave me a clear view into what separates durable businesses from fragile ones, and what actually drives value after a transaction closes.

After leaving consulting, I chose roles that put me inside operating businesses rather than alongside them. As Interim Chief of Staff at a PE-backed consumer business, I worked directly on supply chain and cross-functional execution. At a technology services company, I supported transformation alongside the CEO, working on the problems that actually matter when a business is under pressure to change. Both roles were chosen deliberately, to understand the gap between a credible plan and one that survives contact with an organization.

Prior Firm Bain & Company · ~7 years
Operating Roles TOPIX Pharmaceuticals · Consilio · ETA Community
Education Ivey Business School, HBA
Based In Toronto, Ontario

I grew up in London, Ontario, around workshops, back-country canoe routes, and kitchens that took their time. I've always been drawn to how things are actually built: the joinery that holds, the process behind the product, the problem that looked complicated until someone took it apart. Owning and running a business is the version of that I've been working toward for a long time.

What We Offer

What a transition
with us looks like.

Flexible Capital Structure

We adapt the deal structure to your goals: seller notes, earn-outs, rollover equity, or phased transitions. Because we raise capital deal-by-deal, there is no institutional investment committee setting rigid terms and no fund deadline forcing timing. We prefer working alongside you during the transition rather than asserting control from day one.

Your people stay

We are not acquiring a headcount to restructure. Your employees built what makes this business worth buying, and we intend to keep them. Your reputation in the market becomes ours from day one.

Customers stay informed, not surprised

Warm introductions, shared context, a transition plan you are part of designing. The relationships that took you years to build are treated accordingly.

Operators, not reporters

We are not managing a portfolio and preparing quarterly decks for absentee investors. Our attention goes into the business, the decisions, the people, and the work.

One deal, full attention

We are not managing a dozen portfolio companies. This acquisition, your business, will be our sole operating commitment. That focus is deliberate.

Backed by operators, not just capital

The investors and advisors we work with have run businesses, closed acquisitions, and navigated difficult transitions. Their experience is available to us, and by extension, to the business.

Get in Touch

Let's start a conversation.

If you are a business owner thinking about what comes next, even if the timeline is years away, we would like to hear from you. Equally, if you are an advisor, broker, or investor, we welcome a direct conversation. All inquiries are held in confidence.

Based Toronto, Ontario
Focus Canada & US Northeast

Notes submitted here come directly to me. I read each one personally and reply within a few business days.