How Some Entrepreneurs Are Skipping Startups for Turnkey Success

When Megan McGee (MBA ’21) bought Guesthouses, a 50-year-old rental property management company based in Charlottesville, Virginia, she was fulfilling a long-held ambition to buy an established business and grow it to its full potential.

“I always thought that I wanted to run a business,” McGee said. “And then, once I acquired Guesthouses, I knew — this is exactly what I want to be doing.”

The Jeff Hotel, located on Charlottesville’s historic Downtown Mall, is one of the properties operated by Guesthouses.

Her path to business ownership, however, had a few detours.

McGee grew up in South Florida, where her father owned a lawn care and pest control company. “All of my mentors and role models were small business owners,” said McGee. “I was that kid who was always starting little businesses — from a car wash in my front yard to a clothing upcycling hustle in high school.”

While studying entrepreneurship at Florida State University, McGee launched The Cooler Nation, the first company to offer ready-to-paint coolers.

Cooler painting is a tradition associated with Greek life. As a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, McGee knew from experience that painting a cooler requires a labor-intensive preparation process. “You have to spackle and sand the surface so that the paint can stick to the cooler long-term,” said McGee.

Having recognized a need, McGee started prepping and selling coolers out of her college apartment. The word spread, and she built a website. “I ended up shipping all over the country and internationally,” she said. “It was a lot of 4 a.m. wakeups and skipped classes.”

Soon, copycats followed suit. As McGee put it, “It was bad because now I had competition, but it was also cool, because I’d started this super niche industry that didn’t exist before.”

After graduating from FSU, McGee ran The Cooler Nation while managing a branch of a regional pest control company in Savannah, Georgia. “I considered going into the family business, so I wanted to gain experience in that industry,” she said. “I learned a lot about managing profit and loss, hiring and firing employees, and bringing on new customers.” What followed was a stint at a small marking agency where McGee worked closely with the CEO.

Those experiences only strengthened her desire to own a business. “I wanted to lead those companies and make decisions,” she said. “I felt I could do it better. I considered going back to business school because I wanted to take it to the next level. I also wanted to figure out how to fund starting or buying a business.”

In 2020, McGee enrolled at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, supported by a merit scholarship from the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology that covered her full tuition.

It was at Darden that she learned about entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), a concept that involves buying a small-to-medium-sized business by launching a search fund.

During her time at Darden, McGee took ETA classes and attended the annual Southeast ETA Conference that brings together search fund entrepreneurs, investors and other participants in the ETA ecosystem. She ended up raising $500,000 from a group of investors to launch a traditional “core” search fund — a structure where investors provide funding and mentorship while a “searcher” hunts for the right business to buy and lead as CEO.

McGee spent more than two and a half years looking for an acquisition with her capital partners. Although she came close several times, none of the deals panned out. “There were many great businesses I connected with, but they just weren’t a fit for my investors,” she said.

Traditional search fund investors typically require businesses with $2 million or more in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), which narrows the playing field. “About 40% of traditional searchers don’t close on a business,” McGee said. “But I estimate that more than 80% of self-funded searchers do because they have autonomy over the acquisition decision.”

That’s exactly why McGee pivoted to the self-funded ETA model. After a year of looking, she found and acquired Guesthouses. The Charlottesville-based company manages properties ranging from downtown boutique hotels to unique vacation rentals like a vineyard farmhouse in Greenwood or a cozy carriage house in Ivy. “We provide full-service management and take care of pricing and calendar, guest relations, cleaning and maintenance,” McGee said. “We keep everything running smoothly.”

The business was a perfect fit. McGee had been managing her properties for years, even renting out the second bedroom in her home to afford mortgage payments. “I enjoy hosting and sharing what I love about the area,” she said. “It just aligned with my background and interests.”

Most importantly, Guesthouses had a great reputation and solid foundation. “It was very well managed,” McGee said. “The former owner had built out processes, implemented dynamic-pricing software, and created a great team. The company was ready for someone like me — someone with the energy to keep building on that momentum.”

What’s next for Guesthouses under McGee’s leadership? “I’m not making any major changes,” she said. “I’m making small improvements to this 50-year-old company. I want to set it up so that it can run effectively for another 50 years.”

McGee views business ownership as a means to achieve personal autonomy, while also creating a positive impact and serving others. She emphasizes that even when pursuing a self-funded ETA path, one remains accountable to stakeholders. “You have loans to repay, and your employees and customers depend on you,” she explained. “So it’s important to keep things running smoothly.”

Still, McGee has an eye on future expansion. “I’d love to grow Guesthouses beyond our current geographic footprint,” she said. “I’d love to provide more opportunities for my team, high quality service for our property owners, and better experience for our guests.”

One reason McGee feels well prepared for leading Guesthouses is her comfort with uncertainty, something she attributes to the case method. “At first, it was very uncomfortable,” she recounted, referring to her early experience in the Darden classroom. “You discuss a case, and it feels like there’s no resolution. But that’s exactly what life is like when you’re the CEO. You have to get used to making decisions without having all the answers.”

For anyone considering ETA, McGee offers this advice: “Reach out to as many people as possible — searchers, CEOs and investors. As you learn more about the different models, your questions will evolve, helping you home in on what’s best for you.”

And most importantly, she added, “Life is short, so don’t wait for the perfect moment. You’re probably going to do just fine.”

On 5-6 September 2025, Darden will host the annual Southeast Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Conference in partnership with Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, and Duke University Fuqua School of Business.