Lessons from part-time searchers
November 08, 2023
by a searcher from Indiana University, Bloomington/Indianapolis - Kelley School of Business in Houston, TX, USA
Folks who searched / are searching while having a day job. What are your biggest lessons to-date? The good stuff and the hard stuff…
in Petaluma, CA, USA
Some of my learnings, which may not apply to you:
1. Bizbuysell is helpful, plenty of deals that fit my criteria. I wouldn't bother with proprietary as a part time searcher, I think.
2. Get a few LOIs out: Sign NDA --> ask a few thoughtful questions --> get a call with the seller --> send in an LOI if it's interesting. It's possible to overthink it and get too precious about the LOI.
3. Double check your Cashflow math (post debt, post tax, include amortization of goodwill) to avoid wasting time on businesses that are too small
4. Every broker wildly exaggerates how hot the deal is. When it's truly a competitive deal, you'll know because it'll go before you get a real chance to bid :)
5. You get better at DD with practice. Therefore send the LOIs out.
Hope that helps. Happy to chat on call if you'd like.
from University of Illinois at Urbana in Dallas, TX, USA
-At first, I did the early AM/nights/weekends slots around a demanding W2 (way more than 9-5).
-Then, as volume picked up, I put in my notice and worked part-time for my previous employer (worked for them in the AM, worked on search in the PM).
-Once I started doing site visits with Sellers, I went FT search.
If I could do it again:
-You want progress to be made while you are at work. You can recruit interns (Upwork, CraigsList) to compile company lists and fire off initial reach-outs. They send a report at the end of the day and you sort through it. Note that many databases you would scrape (D&B/Hoovers) have in accurate information so you need to relax search parameters.
-The better lead-flow system you have in place, the more effective it will operate. But I would suggest getting started and iterating, rather than waiting until the system is *perfect* before contacting sellers. It's a numbers game and you will learn by doing.
Good luck!!!