Tee Gwena, Managing Partner of Transora Partners
Tee Gwena, Managing Partner of Transora Partners

For Tee Gwena, Managing Partner of Transora Partners, this looming disruption is both a challenge and an opportunity. Originally from the UK but now leading the Florida-based firm, Gwena draws on more than 15 years of experience across entrepreneurship, M&A advisory, and private equity. He is building a model designed to help small business owners transition successfully and, in the process, reshape how the industry approaches generational business continuity.

The scale of the problem is immense. According to data from the US Census Bureau and Small Business Administration, there are approximately 32 million small businesses in the country. Around six million of these have employees, and together they employ over 62 million people — nearly half of the private sector workforce. More than half of these employer-owned companies are led by baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964, who are now at or past retirement age. That means roughly 31 million American jobs are directly tied to business owners who will soon need to exit their companies.

The total value of these businesses is estimated to be between four and six trillion dollars, generating as much as 6.5 trillion dollars in annual revenue. Yet studies from organizations such as the Exit Planning Institute reveal that nearly 80 percent of businesses brought to market fail to sell. When owners are unable to transition, the impact is devastating: forced closures, lost jobs, and local economies left vulnerable.

This is the challenge Gwena set out to address through Transora Partners, a transition-focused investment firm dedicated to helping founders of small and medium-sized enterprises prepare for sale or succession. The firm partners with retirement-age business owners well before they plan to exit, offering both strategic advisory and investment capital to make their businesses more attractive to potential buyers.

This approach of combining advice and capital, which Gwena refers to as 'Transition Capital', is built on a simple but powerful idea: that knowledge and capital deployed early can transform an unsellable business into a valuable one. By investing ahead of an eventual sale, Transora helps owners strengthen operations, modernize systems, and enhance profitability, ensuring that when the time comes to transition, their companies are positioned for a successful outcome.

Gwena's perspective on the problem is informed by a career that began not in mergers and acquisitions, but in entrepreneurship. He started his first business while still in university, then went on to grow it and others before exiting. His hands-on experience as a founder provided a deep understanding of the challenges owners face when it comes to valuation, preparation, and the emotional weight of letting go.

That experience later guided his transition into mergers and acquisitions advisory, where he led deal teams focused on lower middle market transactions. Having been on both sides of the table, as an entrepreneur and then an advisor, Gwena quickly distinguished himself as someone who could bridge the gap between owner-operators and institutional investors. He later joined GBA Capital as a partner before founding Transora Partners to pursue what he describes as one of the largest, yet least addressed, market inefficiencies in the economy.

Unlike traditional private equity firms that target large, high-growth acquisitions, Transora focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises; the businesses that form the backbone of American commerce but are often too small to attract institutional capital. Gwena's strategy is to intervene before these companies reach a point of distress. By offering structured guidance and transition capital in advance of a sale, he aims to increase both the value and transferability of the business, ultimately helping owners achieve stronger exits.

The model also addresses a broader economic need. With millions of baby boomer entrepreneurs nearing retirement, a massive generational wealth transfer is on the horizon. Yet without proper planning, much of that value risks being lost. Gwena's work positions Transora Partners at the intersection of private investment and economic preservation, aiming to convert this looming crisis into an opportunity for renewal.

Observers note that this approach could have ripple effects beyond the businesses directly involved. Successful transitions mean fewer closures, preserved jobs, and stable tax bases. They also create pathways for younger entrepreneurs and investors to acquire established companies, sustaining industries that might otherwise disappear.

Gwena believes that the solution lies in combining empathy with expertise, understanding the personal dimensions of ownership while applying disciplined investment principles to drive measurable outcomes. It is an approach grounded in pragmatism but motivated by purpose.

As the small business landscape braces for unprecedented change, Gwena and Transora Partners are building a framework that could redefine what business succession looks like in the decades ahead. Their work underscores a vital truth: that the future of entrepreneurship depends not only on those who start companies, but also on those who ensure they endure.