How to qualify an owner is ready to sell?

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February 07, 2025

by a searcher from Colorado State University in Fairfield, CT, USA

I'm kicking off my proprietary search and am wary of spending too much time with owners who are not truly ready to sell. How have others learned to rapidly qualify a seller, ideally on the first phone call?

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Reply by a searcher
from INSEAD in San Francisco, CA, USA
I think you are underestimating the value of building a network of business owners. Is a 30 minute call to catch up every month really "too much time"? My perspective is that (a) this is a numbers game and (b) you don't know what an initial conversation will lead to. What if that owner knows someone else who is willing to sell? Or their life drastically changes in 6 months?

The first phone call should be to determine: am I interested in this business / relationship? If that answer is yes, add them to the list and use it to build momentum. The only thing worse that a pipeline of bad deals is having no pipeline at all.
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Reply by a searcher
from The University of Chicago in New York, NY, USA
If he has not thought about hiring a M&A lawyer and has not has is tax situation reviewed to understand the implications of the deal, he may not be that serious. If they are not even willing to spend money on these items or have asked them selves how to save money on the taxes to the windfall of the sale, they are still very early in the process, in my opinion.
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