Susan Beth is chief operating officer of NRD Capital Management, an Atlanta-based private equity firm.
Q: How would you describe NRD’s investment focus?
Susan Beth: NRD Capital is focused on investing in multi-location, franchise concepts with superior products/services and compelling unit economics across several business sectors. At our core, we are a fund that values opportunity. As such, we look for investments that allow us to create new and expanded opportunity for both our investors and the business owners/entrepreneurs — whether this is their first career endeavor or their second or third act.
In fact, we believe the opportunity that franchising presents is so strong, we have set a mission to help put 1,000 passionate entrepreneurs into business.
Q: What strategies do you use to identify companies worth possibly investing in?
SB: The majority of the companies we consider as potential investments come to us through our network of longstanding personal and professional relationships. From current and past business partners to investment bankers, the relationships we have built over the years serve as valuable resources in helping to identify the next great opportunity for NRD and our investors.
In addition to referrals we receive, our own experiences as consumers often drive our business interests toward potential investments. The businesses we and our families visit as well as the products we need and use — these daily interactions spark interest in learning more about opportunities to work with companies and brands that we believe in and can help to grow.
Q: With the closing of your new fund, NRD Partners II, in July, you indicated a plan to invest in healthcare franchising. Why pursue healthcare investments?
SB: To date, franchising has seen limited applications in healthcare. But as healthcare continues to be a growing sector of the economy, it presents a significant opportunity for franchising.
Expanding franchising to healthcare will lead to improved access and delivery of care, reaching beyond traditional limits of scale. Further, expanding healthcare in this manner will reduce costs to consumers while, at the same time, creating new opportunities for employment. These opportunities will result in flexible delivery models that will also permit job flexibility and improved work life balance.
Q: Do you have any plans to target specific sectors within healthcare for possible investments?
SB: Our commitment to remaining opportunistic and flexible includes not limiting our interests to any specific sectors. As such, our focus is less on the healthcare category and more on the franchise model itself. The concepts of highest interest to us are those that are scalable and can be efficiently replicated into multi-location businesses.
Q: When considering investments in healthcare companies, what qualities do you look for?
SB: We are interested in investing in concepts that are appealing to the public, enhance our portfolio and have the ability to be replicated. Changes in healthcare legislation will continue to impact healthcare at every level, including which services and concepts work as franchise models. We are incredibly excited to be a part of this growing opportunity in healthcare.