We are looking for one well-run, founder-led business to acquire and operate for the long term, in Ontario and the surrounding region. Our sole focus is finding the right fit and being the right successor.
Taylor Miller · Founder & Operator
"I look forward to working with you together from day one."
One acquisition · $1-5M EBITDA
Ontario & Northeast US · Long-term hold
The dovetail joint holds without glue, screws, or fasteners, because the fit itself is the strength.
The business keeps running from day one. We don't restructure on arrival, your people are what makes this worth buying.
From first conversation to close. We move at a pace that works for you, there's no auction, no deadline, no pressure.
Full transition, advisory role, or clean handoff, we work around what makes sense for you, your family, and your business.
These thresholds are guidelines rather than hard constraints. Compelling opportunities outside this range will be evaluated on their merits. Click any card to expand.
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, and what the search fund model is designed to deliver.
We are not optimizing for a five-year exit. Our hold horizon is 5-7 years post-acquisition with no pressure to exit early. The search fund model's 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.
The operator joins as the day-to-day leader, not a board member visiting quarterly. Unlike PE portfolio managers overseeing 5-10 companies, a search fund entrepreneur 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. Walk, then run, then sprint.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We adapt the deal structure to your goals, seller notes, earn-outs, rollover equity, or phased transitions. We prefer working alongside you during ownership transition rather than asserting control from day one. There is no institutional investment committee setting rigid deal terms.
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.
Warm introductions, shared context, a transition plan you are part of designing. The relationships that took you years to build are treated accordingly.
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.
We are not managing twelve portfolio companies. This acquisition, your business, is the only one. That is not a limitation. It is the entire point.
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.
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.