Moving to a new location prior to starting a search

Just one anecdote and maybe we got lucky: my wife and I launched self-funded search and moved from NY to Nashville. We hoped to find a business in Nashville but also searched opportunities in other cities where we would potentially want to live, to cast a little wider net.

Just be aware that deal flow will be much lower - maybe only one or two real opportunities a day. Could of course find more by soliciting in the area but we also wanted to close on something quick so felt it best to look at businesses already ready to sell. Being local probably helped close the deal as we had some in-person meetings with seller and broker that were helpful

I think being self funded helped a lot to let us take this approach and we also knew that there would be potential deal tradeoffs. For example, there were some concessions we might have demanded from the seller but we felt it wasn't worth the discount versus potentially having seller walk away from the deal. Just knowing there is limited deal flow means you have to be more comfortable you won't find the "perfect" deal - but that might be helpful in the end.

I would say to choose location wisely. It may be wise to search out of city you would not mind living in. In my personal experience, I definitely have a higher response thus far in my local market and it allows me to meet with owners more frequently.