Last Monday (July 13, 2026), I had the privilege of joining a gathering organised by a close friend, aimed at bringing together a small group of business owners and entrepreneurs to exchange experiences and, hopefully, help one another through that exchange.
The gathering was led by the brilliant Felipe Winston (@felipewinston), a business owner and advisor to small and medium-sized companies, who prompted us to reflect on a few things.
One point stood out to me in particular.
When discussing the challenges of winning new clients, Winston stressed the importance of “shouting to everyone who we are.” In other words, making the company's identity crystal clear — almost as if it were written on the wall of every office.
In practice, that also means knowing how to say “no” to certain clients and deals. Sometimes the obvious needs to be restated so we don't lose sight of the company's true reason for existing.
That reflection took me straight to a reality we experience often here at the firm.
We are regularly called on to take part in corporate reorganisation processes — whether to align expectations among partners, structure the entry or exit of members, reorganise ownership stakes, or formalise a business split in a safe and balanced way.
And there is something very human behind these transactions.
Partners may start a business looking in the same direction and, over the years, develop different goals. One wants to grow; the other wants to slow down. One wants to reinvest; the other wants to take profits out. One is thinking about selling the company; the other, about leaving it to their children.
The problem is not necessarily the difference in goals. It often lies in the lack of dialogue and a corporate structure capable of keeping pace with those changes.
That is why a good corporate reorganisation does not start only with contracts and clauses. It starts with simple questions: who are we today, why are we still together, and where do we want to go?
Building on Felipe Winston's provocation, every so often we need to stop, look inward, and have the courage to redefine our own identity.
Ricardo Petereit
Petereit Advogados
