Adjusting search model for mid-career/hyper-local

Member resources:

Frequent asked questions:

What is Searchfunder.com?

Searchfunder.com is an online community of searchers, investors, lenders, brokers and other professionals. Over 80% of those involved in searchfunds maintain a Searchfunder account to help them network, hire, and mentor others.

What are the benefits of membership?

In addition to accessing the most active online network of business buyers, Searchfunder licenses research that is simply not cost effective for individuals. Access over 15,000 industry reports and 50,000 transaction financials. You also get monthly credits for contact information for your company sourcing campaign with the option to purchase more at drastically discounted rates. Searchfunder has pre-purchased access from these data providers in order to empower individual buyers and to help searchers level the playing field versus private equity.

Do you have deals?

While we are primarily a buy-side network, we do have hundreds of brokers that regularly post deals to the community.

Can I find an internship on Searchfunder?

Absolutely! We have the industry's largest intern job board. If you are considering a search, the first step is to help another business buyer so you can hit the ground running.

What does it cost?

Searchfunder is a subscription service. We offer flexible monthly, annual and lifetime memberships.

Monthly

$79 / month

Annual

$19 / month

Lifetime

$432 / once

Those who maintain an account with us for over 4 continuous years are permanently added to the community without the need for a membership.

Do I need an MBA to join?

While a large number of our members come from dedicated programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, Chicago Booth, and other top programs, searching is no longer reserved for the elite. With the current abundance of dry powder in private equity, and an increasing number of business owners reaching retirement age, good deals rarely go unfunded.

Post a question, deal, job, etc...

Make a post...

Complete registration to post.

by a searcher from The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business
in California, USA

2yrs ago

Adjusting search model for mid-career/hyper-local

Hi -- I'm very excited about acquiring a small business though I don't think I fit the search model.

Me: >10 years post MBA (Booth), as consultant and diverse large company tech experience. IMHO, my work (and life!) experience makes me much more operationally savvy than me of 15 years ago (though I fully realize the different challenges of a small business). I work FT, but it's pretty chill and I can dedicate 10+ hours per week to search

My target market: I want to stay very close to my current (and beloved) hometown. I am in a smaller geo (100K) just outside of the Bay Area. Listings here are generally small, and are restaurants, cannabis, or skilled trade services, none of which I feel like reliable revenue streams. I am reached out to friends who are well networked CEOs in the community, but no obvious leads. there are a couple of brokers that I have synced with.

Finances: thinking 150K myself plus perhaps 150K friends and family. Targeting 300-500K SDE redacted price.

My thinking is that this is just going to take a long time, to wait for the right opportunity. I'll keep on networking, and starting reaching out proactively. I honestly don't think I would be any more successful doing this full time, or with investors. (I would benefit from the coaching though) It's a little odd doing this publicly while working an unrelated job, so I am being targeted in my networking

I'm also staying open to other options based on what opportunities present themselves: growing a smaller acquisition, multiple sequential acquisitions, or perhaps building.

What do you think - can this model work? What can I do to improve my odds?

1 Like

199 Views

reply by a searcher 2yrs ago
from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, USA

The model works it just takes patience as you won't have time to shake as many trees as a full time searcher. The benefit is you can also be more selective on the deals you choose as you have an indefinite time horizon.

reply by a searcher 2yrs ago
from California Polytechnic State University in Oakland, CA, USA

In the same geo and roughly similar sized SDE. I'm willing to go both lower and higher for the SDE.

I've found that it's a matter of broadening out in terms of types of companies. The geo filter really constrains the deals and you can't further limit it by also ruling out industries. I used to have hard lines and no-go zones like restaurants or laundromats, but I've been rethinking some of my hard-nos after 6 months of not seeing a ton of opportunities that I initially wanted.

Also I'm contemplating going even bigger, maybe just find the deals and then partner with one of the many equity raising companies out there that are looking for deals and operators in later stages. Take a smaller equity footprint but get in the deal. Also eliminating that personal guarantee hangup from SBA isn't a bad deal either ...