Origin Story

Our founder’s road to helping owners buy and sell companies.

The Beginning

By 2005 I had founded and was operating five small companies. By 2010 each business had shut its doors.

The most painful closure was Basecamp. A company I had built into the world’s largest wakeboard facility, with four locations and over 30 staff.

I have no doubt Basecamp would be running today if I had known at the time how to build transferability into a company. 

Starting From Scratch

Nearly bankrupt from the shutdowns, in 2011 I purchased and ran a hot dog cart for 18 months (Duke’s Dogs).

Using the profits from the cart I saved enough to found a radio station (Stoke FM), which then funded the purchase of a property management company (Revelstoke Property Services). 

My singular focus at the time was learning how to build a business that was sellable and robust enough to survive beyond the founder.
 
In 2014, under a newly formed board of directors, I transitioned Stoke FM to management, and in 2018 I sold Revelstoke Property Services to the private equity firm Western Trust. 

 

Moving into M&A

In 2014 I sold my first client owned business, an Italian restaurant run by a husband and wife team who had been trying to sell for years; already having gone through two failed attempts with other brokers.

Later that year, alongside running my property management company, I sold a movie theatre, print shop, spa, bakery, and burger shack. I loved helping the owners extract their businesses’ value and particularly enjoyed transferring the entrepreneurial spark from one generation to the next.  

After the thrill of my first few business sales, I formally decided to make M&A my lifelong career. To better serve my clients I dove into continued education in the space.

Listed below are my accreditations and eduction in the M&A industry.  

LICENSES & DESIGNATIONS

CBI DESIGNATION

Two-year designation program with the International Business Brokers Association to become a Certified Business Intermediary.

CM&AA DESIGNATION
​10-day intensive with the Alliance of Mergers and Acquisitions Association to attain a Certified Mergers and Acquisition Advisor designation.
CEPA DESIGNATION
​10-day intensive with the Exit Plan Institute to attain a Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation.
CVB DESIGNATION
Six-month designation program to become a Certified Value Builder created by the author of Built to Sell, John Warrillow.
CAP DESIGNATION
​10-day intensive with Succession+ for certification in the use of the Capitaliz value enhancement tool – the most powerful software in the world for increasing the value of SME businesses.
MBA
2-year masters program from the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University in Washington, DC
​REAL ESTATE LICENSING 
Over five years I obtained a Managing Broker License with trading services, strata management and property management through the RECBC.
M&AMI DESIGNATION

​In 2022 I am actively pursuing the distinguished Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary designation from the M&A Source.

AUTHORED MATERIAL


RECBC BUSINESS BROKERAGE 101
​In 2019 I authored the business brokerage course for BC’s 30,000 Real Estate Agents and have now trained over 400 brokers on how to sell main street businesses through the two-day program.
BUSINESS SALE ACCELERATOR

In 2020 I authored the Business Sale Accelerator and The Business Sale Navigator, two DIY programs for small and medium-sized business owners navigate the sale of their businesses on their own.

SELF EDUCATION

​
44 Day Challenge: In 2014 I purchased every book Amazon sells on business sales and spent 44 days in a row getting up a 4:00 am, reading a book, and filming a YouTube review of the content before heading to work. This was a personal challenge designed to fast-track education in the M&A space and can be viewed here – 44-Day Challenge Playlist
​2CCX: Member of Russell Brunson’s the two comma club, a group of entrepreneurs dedicated to empowering small business growth through technology and education.

​UpLevel Consulting: Member of Sam Oven’s consulting network, a group of business owners dedicated to improving the delivery of advisory and consulting services.

FOUNDED EVENTS & CONTENT

​
Creator: The Happy Dealmaker YouTube Channel and the Scale & Exit Club both dedicated to helping small business owners achieve successful sales and freedom.
​Creator: SellASmallBusienss.com – The internet’s largest repository of links to help company owners with a business transition.
Founder: Exit Plan Summit, the world’s largest online event for business sale experts sharing their knowledge directly with owners.
Founder: 10XLIVE, an event for exit plan advisors and SME business owners held every September focused on value creation.
Contact Us

Management Team

Scott Duke

Founder

Scott is the founder of OpnRoad, and has worked with hundreds of owners on the sale of their businesses. He is an active board member of the International Business Brokers association and also trains over 250 Realtors each year how to intermediate business transactions through the BC Real Estate Board.

Eve Northmore

Owner Relations

Eve holds a masters in organizational psychology and works at the front end of our process to help owners and stakeholders clarify their transitional goals. 

Dominique Ritchie

Buyer Sourcing

Dominique runs our clients marketing and buyer sourcing campaigns. She also manages our business development department.

Sam Hinchey

Deal Origination

Sam runs the front-end of our buy-side business. She manages a small team of contractors who connect with over 300+ businesses a week in industries targeted by our clients.

our m&a services
Where did the name OpnRoad come from?

Our founder speaks to where the name OpnRoad comes from, and what differentiates us from our competitors.

Scott Duke

Connect

Address

410 Cedar Street
Box 2287
Revelstoke, BC
Canada
V0E2S0

Phone

1-888-652-7370

Email

info@opnroad.io