Best argument to convince potential sellers

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 Université du Québec à Montréal
in Montreal, QC, Canada

5yrs ago

Best argument to convince potential sellers

Many potential sellers are not fully motivated to sell to a young professional without any direct experience in their industry.

What are your best arguments, strategies to make them understand that we are the right person to take over the business?

15 Likes

888 Views

reply by an intermediary 5yrs ago
from Harvard University in Nashville, TN, USA

Time for a splash of cold water to the face. When the owner says something like that, he is 99.8% of the time really telling you to go away because you don't have the cash to make a deal come together. You want to know how to convince a business owner to sell to you? Show him the money, not a list of friends with money. Hoping the seller will like and trust you enough to accept a below market deal that includes seller financing is fool's gold. If you have the money to make a market rate deal for cash, your lack of experience will truly be of little concern to the seller.

reply by a searcher 5yrs ago
from London Business School in London, UK

If being a young professional is the issue I believe is key to:
- Demonstrate industry and business knowledge even though one might not have industry experience.
- Fill the industry experience gap by successful professional experience.
- Differentiate from traditional investors (i.e. willingness to roll your sleeves, ability to build a closer relationship).
- Depending on the company a young professional might be what is needed to drive change and be more agile in the management of the company.