7 months into a search and stuck — how did you actually find your business?
Been searching for an established business to acquire for about seven months now and I'm hitting a wall. Hoping some of you who've actually done this can point me in a better direction.
Quick background: I've got real operating and program-management experience, so I'm not new to running things — the bottleneck is deal flow, not know-how. My problem is finding something that matches reality. Almost everything on BizBuySell either doesn't match its own listing description once you dig in, or the numbers fall apart the second you ask a real question.
What I've tried so far:
- Signed up for a couple of coaching/acquisition programs. Both were flops — a lot of framework, very little actual sourcing.
- Started doing my own direct outreach, including running "wanted to buy" ads through a few waste-management / service company channels to reach owners who aren't listed anywhere.
So my questions for people who've closed a deal:
Where did your actual acquisition come from — broker, cold outreach, word of mouth, something else?
If you did off-market outreach, what actually got owners to respond?
Anything you wish you'd done differently seven months in?
Appreciate any real-world input. Happy to share more about my buy box if it helps.