Anyone doing or have done a regional search?

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October 06, 2020

by a searcher from University of Alaska Anchorage - College of Business and Public Policy in Anchorage, AK, USA

Hello! I am located in Alaska and interested in doing a regional search. If you've done a regional search in the past, I would love to get your take on how it went and what type of investors you were able to attract. I am also interested to get your feedback if you've done one and it didn't work out. Thanks!

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Reply by a searcher
from The University of Michigan in 1075 Gills Dr, Orlando, FL 32824, USA
Linda, I did a regional search and acquired a business. As Tony said, the number of deals is the biggest constraint and depending on your market that may be a major challenge. The benefits are that you can leverage your network and build a meaningful network since you are local and that you can differentiate yourself from other buyers by stressing that you are a local. As far as investors, I found that there were quite a few HNWIs who wanted to invest in their local economy and had more money than opportunities. I found these folks through networking as well.

If your market is smaller there's the potential you could perform your search while maintaining your full-time job to give yourself a longer runway. It would be challenging to conduct a thorough search while working for 2+ years but I think it's possible, especially if you're in a smaller market and have a strong network to leverage for deal flow.

Lastly, if you're in a smaller market you need to be more flexible on the businesses you're willing to acquire and really consider non-sexy businesses (e.g. plumbing). You don't have the luxury of being picky.
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Reply by a searcher
from Carnegie Mellon University in New York, NY, USA
I'm doing a regional search for a slightly bigger portion of the US and have found that the main limiter is the number of deals that you'll find in those regions. Deals just kind of pop up whenever, so really no good way to know how the search will go, like most searches!
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