Stop making "Zillow for business buying"

Lots of people trying to make the "Zillow for business buying" Here is why I think they are trying to solve the wrong problem (with some potential alternative solutions suggested at the end). "More tech" is not always the answer In this case, you have to seat an incumbent: BizBuySell They are, for better or worse, the go-to online place to find businesses to sell. Is the site rather...meh? Yes. But making a slicker UX or adding more data points is not necessarily going to bring more users. There is a long list of failed startups who have tried to unseat Craiglist Almost 30 years later, they are still the 800-lb Gorilla (and $600 million revenue) to beat with a site like this: Zillow solves a different problem They bring traffic to listings with data and slick UX. Zillow has a great interface and offers LOTS of data. Why? Zillow couldn't care less if you sell your home or not. They want you on their site because they make money on advertising, lead gen for agents, and mortgages. Home sellers don't choose to have their home on Zillow, it just gets pulled from the MLS. It's almost important to note that the data Zillow shares (price per square foot, school info, crime stats, taxes, etc) is rather standardized and gravitates around one data point: zip code. As they say: location, location, location. The challenge with a "Zillow for business" is there is NOT a single point like location to center around. Industry? Maybe. But it may not always be fair to compare an HVAC company in North Dakota to one in Texas. Point is, Zillow is solving for getting eyeballs on their site and a "Zillow for business" would have a tough time doing the same, for reasons below. Are sellers really struggling to find buyers? A "zillow for business" sounds really great for buyers. If we could make it more or a shopping experience vs the uncertain process it is now, wouldn't that be great? To do that, however, you would need sellers to offer more info and opt-in to the new process. But why should they? It seems like every broker I see is talking about how they get SWAMPED with inbound whenever they share a new deal. Do they really need more? Does having a "better site" really solve their problem? I don't think so. PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES I'm all on board with trying to make it easier to transact on businesses. But there are problems that have nothing to do with UX and site speed. Challenge #1 : Qualified Buyers I hear this one all the time also: "They can build the model but can they run the business?" Lots of people can go online and fill out an NDA, but can they run the business? This can become a fundamental challenge for any seller who cares about their business, their people, and their legacy. This is NOT something a "Zillow for business" solves. Proposal I lean into two ideas here: #1: Feel free to reach out to me. We place experienced leaders into senior roles at small-mid size businesses. #2 Build a SMB leadership school Not an online course. Not anything with the term "MBA." But a no-BS, accredited program on the fundamentals of running a small business that gives people the tools to run an SMB and thus the confidence to buy one: - Bookkeeping and accounting - Paid digital advertising - Local SEO - Common labor law issues - Compensation Challenge #2: Financials Lots of problems here center around one thing: seller financials They can be...well...crazy. I've seen people share stories of sellers hiding money, adding their payments to their mistress as an add-back, and the more usual: "This expense I've had every year for the last 5 years was totally discretionary and so it's an add-back." Buyers can get lost, or even take it all as too many red flags, and lenders can say "no" for any myriad of reasons. A better UX doesn't solve this fundamental challenge. Proposal Accounting services for business sellers. Ok, this one isn't new. But here is how you could do it differently: Keep the cool site. But tell sellers they HAVE to use your accounting services and get their books to YOUR standards before you will list them. If you have a cool site with great traffic, they may make the exchange. You could even charge for the service to get their books standardized and roll it into a brokerage fee. Argument being to a buyer that a cleaner set of books makes for a more likely transaction. Final Thoughts To wrap up: - "More tech" is not always the answer - Zillow solves for different problems and users have different needs than people buying businesses, so don't be like them - Make it easier for people to own businesses by helping them find people to run them and/or give them the tools to run an SMB better - Any attempt to reduce friction in the biz buying process has to address seller financials I know, it seems like heresy in the 21st century, in the days of Open AI and self-driving cars to say that "more tech may not be the answer." But it may not be. I'm all for disruption and innovation in the world of business buying. I'm all for helping people become entrepreneurs and own businesses. So let's do that by attacking the right problems.