Journey Stories

searcher profile

January 02, 2025

by a searcher from University of Hawaii - Manoa in Honolulu, HI, USA

Hi All,
I'm fairly new to this community. I’m curious if anyone who’s self funded in their search did so while maintaining a full time job? I suspect what I’ll hear is no that searching a full time job. Just wanting to collect input from the community.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

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commentor profile
Reply by a professional
in Chicago, IL, USA
Hi Terry and welcome to the community.

As an M&A Advisor, I have worked with searchers who tried to search while having a full time job. It is incredibly difficult to do so given the effort it takes just to find a deal let alone execute on a deal.

Unless your role is fully remote, it is incredibly difficult to carve out time in the office for the search and attend to work. Not saying it cannot be done, but it is incredibly challenging and can extend the timeframe of a search.

Happy to connect if you have more questions about the process or just in general
commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Honolulu, HI, USA
aloha terry, welcome to the community! hawaii is a unique market for many reasons. keeping a w2 while searching may be difficult, but valuable in the beginning stages since there are extreme disparities in local geographies (oahu/maui/kauai etc).

from my own experience, yes searching is a full time job, but you must also have enough cash liquidity to potentially search longer than the average entrepreneur.

happy to talk more if you're on island! shoots.
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