Cecil Sterling & Company

What Cecil Sterling & Company does

Cecil Sterling & Company is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based boutique corporate management and advisory firm founded in 2017 as Cecil, Sterling & Co, LLC. The firm serves small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with the thesis that SMBs underutilize transactional growth strategies — acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships — that larger enterprises routinely deploy. Its operating model is a professional services practice generating revenue through bespoke consulting engagements rather than productized offerings or recurring contracts.

The firm's service suite consists of four integrated lines: Strategy Development (custom growth strategy formulation), Deal Development (sourcing and vetting of transactions), Transaction Expertise (negotiation and closing support from LOI through financing), and Post-Closing Integration (transition management). Underlying technology is minimal — the firm operates a Squarespace-hosted website and uses the Motion scheduling platform (usemotion.com) to route initial consultations, indicating a direct, relationship-driven, sales-led go-to-market motion with no proprietary software, platform, or data assets disclosed.

The firm is privately held, founder-led, and operates with 1-10 employees. Andrew Longcore is the primary point of contact ([email protected]). No external funding, parent company, partnerships, named clients, patents, certifications, or awards have been disclosed in available source material, framing Cecil Sterling & Company as a small, independent, bootstrapped advisory practice.

Name

Cecil Sterling & Company

Legal name

Cecil, Sterling & Co, LLC

Website

https://cecilsterling.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cecil Sterling & Company is a Grand Rapids-based boutique advisory firm founded in 2017 that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) pursue growth through acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships via four integrated service lines.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate M&A / Venture Build-to-Buy Programs (Acqui-hire, option-to-acquire) (FSANAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Joint Venture CVC / Consortium Funds (Multi-corporate) (FSANAHAE)

Keywords

• Mergers and acquisitions advisory
• SMB growth consulting
• Transaction advisory services
• Corporate strategy consulting
• Post-merger integration services

Headquarters

HQ city

Grand Rapids

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Advisory and Consulting Services: Professional services revenue model providing bespoke growth strategies and transaction advisory services to SMBs. Revenue is generated through consulting engagements for strategy development, deal sourcing, transaction negotiation, and post-closing integration.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Cecil Sterling & Company is a corporate management and advisory firm that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) grow through corporate transactions, including acquisitions, mergers, strategic partnerships, and joint ventures. The firm delivers end-to-end advisory services spanning strategy development, deal sourcing and vetting, transaction negotiation, and post-closing integration for business owners pursuing inorganic growth.

Product overview

Cecil Sterling & Co. is a consulting/advisory firm founded in 2017 that provides a suite of professional services focused on empowering SMBs to achieve growth through corporate transactions. The company's offering consists of four integrated service areas: Strategy Development (customized growth strategy), Deal Development (sourcing and vetting transactions), Transaction Expertise (negotiation and closing), and Post-Closing Integration (transition management). These services work together to provide end-to-end support for SMBs seeking to grow through acquisitions, partnerships, mergers, and joint ventures—strategies typically used by larger enterprises but often overlooked by smaller businesses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy Development Advisory service that builds growth strategies for SMBs pursuing corporate transactions, including acquisitions, mergers, and partnerships. Targeted at business owners and executives evaluating inorganic growth paths.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Cascade Partners: Cascade Partners is a Grand Rapids-based middle-market M&A advisory firm providing sell-side and buy-side advisory, due diligence, and transaction support to businesses — making it the closest geographic and functional peer to Cecil Sterling's SMB-focused deal advisory practice.

Direct peers

• Generational Group: Generational Group is a large middle-market M&A advisory firm specializing in serving business owners of smaller and lower-middle-market companies (typically $1M–$50M in revenue) across sell-side advisory, valuation, and wealth management — directly comparable in target customer profile and service scope.
• Transworld Business Advisors: Transworld is a global business brokerage franchise focused on SMB M&A transactions, including business sales, mergers, acquisitions, and franchise resales. Its SMB-centric, transaction-driven model directly mirrors Cecil Sterling's deal-development and transaction-expertise services.
• Murphy Business Sales: Murphy Business & Financial Corporation is a North American business brokerage firm specializing in the sale, valuation, and acquisition of SMBs — directly comparable as an SMB-focused transaction advisory and brokerage firm.
• Bober Markey Fedorovic: BMF Advisors is a mid-sized CPA and transaction advisory firm based in the Midwest that provides M&A advisory, transaction support, and growth strategy services to middle-market and SMB clients — directly comparable in both target market and transaction advisory focus.
• Angle Advisors: Angle Advisors is a Detroit-based boutique investment bank providing M&A advisory services to middle-market companies, including sell-side, buy-side, and corporate development advisory — a closely comparable regional M&A advisory peer.
• Brown Gibbons Lang & Company: BGL is a Midwest-headquartered middle-market investment bank providing M&A advisory and capital-raising services to privately held businesses — comparable in transaction advisory services and SMB/middle-market client base.
• Sun Mergers & Acquisitions: Sun M&A Group is a middle-market M&A advisory firm serving SMB and lower-middle-market business owners through sell-side representation and acquisition advisory — directly comparable in target customer and service offering.

Emerging players

• Axial: Axial is an online deal-sourcing platform connecting SMB buyers, sellers, and advisors in the lower middle market. While not a direct advisory competitor, it competes with Cecil Sterling's deal-development service by enabling clients to source transactions themselves.

Broad incumbents

• Houlihan Lokey: Houlihan Lokey is a global investment bank with a strong M&A advisory practice across middle-market and large-cap transactions. While focused on larger deals than Cecil Sterling typically serves, it represents the type of incumbent advisor whose minimum-fee economics Cecil Sterling's SMB niche seeks to bypass.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cecil-sterling-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cecil Sterling & Company