Advice for first approaching a biz?

February 16, 2025

by a searcher from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management in New York, NY, USA

HI All,

First-time searcher here. I identified my first target, and getting ready to approach them with an initial conversation. I know the owner personally from being a customer for several years.

Does anyone have any tips on best practices for this initial conversation?

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Reply by a searcher
from Wilfrid Laurier University in Woodbridge, Vaughan, ON, Canada

Some great advice here already - easier since you already know them and I would stress the importance of the personal relationship and caring about them as a person: I don't know this company, but lots of owners get pestered by financial buyers who only care about the money and have little care about the personal side or knowing the people within the business. If you want to stand out - do it on the relationships side. Further, over time you will figure out what your personal pitch is for why to sell to you - if this one doesn't work out, practice it as much as you can with other targets

Reply by an intermediary
from Harvard University in San Diego, CA, USA

Hi Andrei, because you already have a personal relationship with this person, I would ask them to lunch to have this conversation. Tell them about how much you like their business and respect what they are doing and that if there is ever an opportunity, you want to be first in line to buy the business. You can talk about how and why you want to buy a business and why theirs is the perfect fit, but if they don't seem receptive to the conversation, I wouldn't push too hard. Do some research on the industry beforehand so you can ask about industry trends and sound knowledgeable as well.

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