I've listed my commercial cleaning company on three different marketplaces over the past four months. I've had probably 40 "inquiries" and maybe 3 of them were actual human beings with a checkbook. The rest are brokers fishing for listings, tire kickers, or people who want me to finance 100% with zero down. Is there some secret filter I'm missing? Where do the real buyers actually hang out?
Buyer Leads
Where are all the serious buyers hiding on these sites?
Following. Same question. I've been told "they're out there" but I'm starting to think that's just what brokers say to get you to list.
The serious buyers aren't browsing the public sites much. They have relationships with M&A advisors or they're getting deal flow from their bankers. By the time it hits BizBuySell, it's usually picked over.
Honestly the "secret filter" is your own patience. Four months is nothing. Took me 9 months to sell my HVAC company and I had the same ratio of junk inquiries.
Nine months. Great. I'll just tell my wife we're renewing the lease for another year
What's your revenue and SDE range? That changes the answer. Under $500k SDE you're mostly dealing with individuals, which is a different animal than a $2M+ business where PE and strategic buyers show up.
Around $1.1M revenue, $340k SDE. I thought that was a sweet sppot. Apparently it's the sweet spot for every guy with a dream and a home equity line.
I bought a business in that range two years ago, off one of those sites actually. So we do exist. But I ignored probably 30 listings for every one I pursued, and I made the seller prove a lot before I gott serious.
See that's the thing. Sellers read "serious buyer" as "someone who will pay my asking price quickly." Buyers read "serious seller" as "someone with clean books who answers emails." Nobody thinks they're the problem
Painfully accurate.
Get off the marketplaces and go find them. Industry associations, local trade groups, your own competitors. I know that sounds crazy but a competitor bought mine. Zero broker fees.
Calling my competitors, and telling them my business is for sale. What could possibly go wrong.
You'd be surprised. Worst case they say no. Best case you skkip the clown parade on the listing sites.
Also, if your listing doesn't have a real P&L and tax returns attached in some form, the actual buyers bounce before they contact you. I skipped every listing thhat looked like someone threw it up in an afternoon.
This. Half The "where are the buyers" posts would solve themselves with a well-prepared data room and a listing that doesn't read like a ransom note.
Fair point on the data room. Mine is decent but I could tighten it up. Still, the tire kickers...
At this point I'd take a tire kicker who can actually read a balance sheet.
Tire kickers are just buyers who haven't decided yet. Annoying but not always fake. Most of them are scared, not scheming.