“There is a company I'm interested in buying in the next 5-10 years, but one hesitation I have is the culture.”

Here are my answers to 5 great questions about this from Matthew Stinar:

• Can I steer the culture in the right direction or is the company headed toward a wall of cultural limitation?

  When you own the company, you own the culture. You can (and should) drive it wherever you want. Depending on the culture, though, you may take a step backwards before taking several forward.

• Will turnover disrupt key business relationships?

  Unless the key business relationships are the result of the shitty culture (cronyism, nepotism, etc.), unlikely.

• Can I change the culture without turning over staff?

  Not likely. Even if prior ownership was the source of a toxic culture, it will almost certainly include turnover in a turnaround.

• Can I implement the proper training and systems to build a culture capable of driving the business to the next level?

  Yes, but training is rarely enough to turn a bad egg into a good one.

• How do I hire without disrupting the culture I've built?

  Hiring should be based on culture first - before anything else.