Just a few reasons why I require a retainer to provide deal sourcing/outsourced business development services:
1. Its fair to my clients who are paying for a retainer. They wouldn't like knowing that I charge them and not someone else. THIS IS MY #1 REASON
2. It's fair to me - I am a successful entrepreneur, advocate, and B2B professional. I have invested years/decades into my referral partnerships. I'm in a different league than an intern or virtual assistant overseas.
3. I've made intros to brokers or buyers only for them to drag their feet. If they are paying for my services, they will have a reason to be responsive.
4. My team's time - we spend hours with business owners advising them for free. The retainer is what allows us to provide free advising to business owners.
5. Upfront costs - our CRM, additional tech stack, membership dues, conferences, etc. easily eat up a majority of the retainer fee.
6. You get something before a deal closes - My services give you hours per week back to do other things. This is time that can be spent on revenue-generating activities.
7. Establishes a relationship - We establish a formal working relationship with our retainer. This fee allows us to allocate time exclusively to your growth goals. This retainer also reserves our future resources to you.
8. Managing your costs - Our retainer prevents us from asking for higher finders fees in the future.
9. It vets you as a client - It's a way of vetting you for the biz owners and my referral sources who trust me to be selective with who I work with. A client willing to pay for these services are serious and have the resources to back up their search.
10. It shows I'm not desperate - if I accepted any success fee with no retainer, everybody would be a client. I can afford to say no to those who can't afford me.
11. Reduces my risk - Some people are just not inclined to hold their word and pay their bills. Their lack of integrity burned me once.
12. Motivates you to prioritize me - If you are handed two deals and everything else is equal, a searcher may prioritize a deal they don't have to pay my finders fee.
13. Conferences/Travel/Speaking Engagements - these things position me in front of business owners who could be potential intros to you. These items are resource-intensive including money, time, etc.
14. Standard/Customary - It is customary that professionals who have a compensation structure similar to me work on retainer and/or hourly rate (lawyers, consultants, CPA’s, etc.)
This is not all-inclusive and I have more that I've listed to myself over time. I hope this is helpful for someone to see the retainer from another point of view. There's nothing wrong with a searcher who can't afford a retainer or doesn't have a need for outsourced deal sourcing/business development..
Deal Sourcing - Why I ask for a retainer

by a professional
More on Searchfunder
Searchfunder is an online community and toolkit for searchfunds. Over 80% of those involved in searchfunds maintain a Searchfunder.com account to help them network, problem solve challenges, and keep up with the industry.
We maintain partnerships with database providers that make searching more effective, efficient and affordable along with features that help searchers find deals and investors and vice versa.
We maintain partnerships with database providers that make searching more effective, efficient and affordable along with features that help searchers find deals and investors and vice versa.
92 views
5 comments
Sign in to see all replies.
Create an account.