Here’s what I hear almost daily from first-time buyers . . .
“Bad deal flow.”
“I need off-market deals.”
“I need deals at a better price.”
“Nothing but bad deals on BizBuySell.”
Sound familiar?
Most buyers have been told a story that deals exist at a 3x multiple, where the owner is sitting around unaware they can sell, desperate to retire, waiting for some bright-eyed brand new searcher to come save them.
Unfortunately, that’s a fairy tale. And if it did exist at one point, it doesn’t anymore.
Yes, there are people on podcasts who did this. Heck, even my early clients did. But they’re the exception. And they were buying in a different market a few years ago.
So I feel compelled to tell you how your current frame of reference is going to keep you from EVER finding the right business to buy.
You’re operating off a fantasy.
Most first-time buyers have criteria that are reasonable for large acquisitions but completely unrealistic for small businesses, and for buyers working within SBA limits.
And then they want all of that at a 3x-ish multiple.
That’s the equivalent of saying you want a man in finance, 6’5”, blue eyes, with a trust fund.
For those of you not familiar with the meme - a woman posted a video of her requirements for a partner and it went viral with song remixes. David Guetta got involved, it’s actually a banger.
A Gothamist analysis found 100 to 250 men in the US who are in finance, 6’5”, with a trust fund and blue eyes . . . out of roughly 101 MILLION men. In other words, roughly a 0.00025% chance of finding that guy (and I’m not even sure they accounted for the ones who are single, so . . . even less).
Y’all. You can have some of what you want. You can’t have ALL of it.
For those of you happy in a relationship, did the superficial checklist end up being what made you happy, or was it something else?
The fantasy of business buying is that you’ll find a bulletproof business with no problems and ride off into the sunset, happily ever after.
But just like marriage takes work, so does a business. And don’t you want to buy a business you’re likely to get along with, flaws and all?
If you do manage to find the 6’5” business, get in line.
Since the internet caught wind of business buying and PE started coming down market, there’s more competition than ever. Good listings get 200 inquiries in the first 24 hours. You’re up against experienced buyers with deeper pockets, and you’ll likely be outbid.
Sorry to break it to you . . . you are not the catch. The seller is.
So if you want the dream business, you need to learn how to compete and win. That’s what we teach. Every single one of our clients has submitted at least one LOI, 81 LOIs in the last 12 months.
That fantasy checklist is keeping you from seeing the true match right in front of you. It might have some flaws, but if you choose right, they might be the flaws you were born to love, to make right, to make better!
Small businesses are anything but perfect. What it takes is the perfect person, who knows what to do with the challenges and loves solving those kinds of problems.
Because I’ll tell you what, as owner your new job title might as well be Chief Problem Solver.
GM or no GM, your name is on the personal guarantee. So when problems happen (and they absolutely will) you want a business where you’ll do whatever it takes to solve them and come out stronger for it.
“But I’m just following the criteria I read about in books and heard on podcasts, Athena!” I hear you. You’re doing what you thought was right. And maybe on some level, what you thought would be frictionless.
Conversation to have with yourself - are you running towards business buying because you love solving problems and owning the outcome? Or are you running away from an unhappy situation at work, thinking a business will solve those problems?
Make no mistake, buying a business will bring you WAY more problems to solve than being an employee. Some of us are wired to want that. I call you owners trapped in employment.
If that’s you, promise yourself this: if you want to successfully BUY a business, you need a deal box grounded in reality, not fantasy.
Promise?
Ok good. Now let’s deal with problem 2.
Take the 2-minute readiness assessment and find out.
You do not have a deal flow problem.
You have a FILTER problem.
First, you might be running everything through the impossible filter we just went through.
Second, you haven’t figured out how to identify the right business for you.
There are 47,000 businesses on BizBuySell right now. That’s just one of the 200+ channels my team and I source from.
There are plenty of businesses out there. You’re just scrolling past the ones that could be a fit because you have the wrong filter.
Let me ask you this.
Did you figure out what you wanted in a relationship by reading dating profiles and books? Or did you go on dates, get your heart broken a few times, and come back clearer on what you wanted, until you could spot what felt right, who you could see yourself getting old with?
YOUR DEAL BOX IS A THEORY.
And the only way to TEST that theory is real-world reps.
Not researching, not scrolling listings. Real conversations with sellers and brokers, going on ride-alongs, presenting offers, getting beaten, eventually getting chosen, having a deal fall apart, picking yourself back up and getting back out there.
REAL-WORLD FEEDBACK ON THAT THEORY.
Each experience helps you crystallize what’s important to you, more and more. So with time and experience, you know it when you see it, and you know what to do when you find it.
Because you could find the perfect match . . . but lack the experience to be chosen.
Just like dating takes reps, practice, soul searching, confidence and action . . . so does business buying.
This is why it takes most first-time buyers 2 to 4 years to buy a business. And why only 2% of people who set out to buy actually do.
98% of buyers do not buy a business!
They believed the fantasy that this could be done in less than 6 months, with the perfect business and no competition. So they bailed when it got hard. They quit when . . .
I know, this hurts to read.
Buying a business is HARD. It will test every part of you. It will require sacrifice and time, and expose everything that was weak in yourself.
The good news is every first-time buyer feels this. Every first-time buyer starts out chasing the fantasy with the wrong filter. All of this is normal when you’re starting out.
And there’s a better, quicker way than taking 2 to 4 years to figure it out on your own.
So if you’re still with me, and you want help speeding up that learning curve . . . a deal box that fits you, the process to win against hundreds of other buyers, and the confidence to show up like the buyer the seller has been holding out for . . . we can help.
We’ve been doing this 1:1 with clients for 3+ years, and our clients go from searching to owning at 20x the industry average.
We’ve built a system that does this with first-time buyers, and our clients who use it love it.
Want results like that? The first step is a Search Strategy Call. We’ll review your search with you, find what’s filtering out the right deals, and map a realistic path to an offer.
Apply for your Search Strategy Call
This is for education only and isn't financial, legal, or tax advice. Talk to your own lender and advisors about your specific deal.