How to look for a business to buy while keeping your day job
By Ricardo Garcia · · Adapted from Chapter 4, “Finding Deals While Keeping Your Day Job”
You don't need to quit your job to start looking for a business, and you shouldn't. You can search while working full time. Your salary keeps you stable, and lenders want to see steady income while you search. A few focused hours a week, used consistently, is enough to get started.
Where deals come from
Most deals come from one of five places:
- Business brokers. Organized information and sellers who are ready to sell. Expect competition and optimistic asking prices.
- Listing sites. Good for seeing a wide range of businesses and what they sell for. Many listings are stale, overpriced, or thin on details.
- Owners directly. Less competition and more room to shape the deal. It takes patience.
- Referrals and your network. Warm introductions, as long as people know what you're looking for.
- Deal-sharing groups. Deals other buyers pass on, plus advice from experienced members.
You don't need all five at once. Start with one or two.
Fewer, better sources
I've collected around 300 links to websites that list businesses for sale. I regularly use about 12 of them. More sources don't mean more good deals. Find the handful that consistently show businesses in your industries and size range, set up saved searches or email alerts, and ignore the rest.
A weekly routine for a busy professional
Consistency matters more than intensity. Here is one way to spend four or five hours a week:
- Two or three lunch breaks: check saved searches and new listings, and skip anything outside your criteria.
- One evening: take a closer look at the one or two listings that passed, and request more information.
- One conversation: call a broker, follow up on a deal, or have coffee with a business owner you know.
- A few minutes to track it: keep a list of every deal you look at, why you passed or moved forward, and what you learned.
Getting brokers to take you seriously
Brokers hear from many people who say they want to buy a business, and most never close. Three things help you stand out: a pre-approval letter from a lender, a clear description of what you want to buy, and honesty about your goals and how quickly you can move.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. Examples are illustrative.