4 Ways to Find Overlooked Deals on BizBuySell and other websites

The large business for sale sites (Bizbuysell, Bizquest, Kumo, Axial, etc.) help share the sellers' listing-- but they're not well designed for buyers' search. I used intel from a decade of working at marketplace websites eBay and Indeed to find more details. I found a lot of great deals that were miscategorized and easy to miss. Here's some hacks to upgrade your search: 1. If you're seeking remote/ location flexible/home based businesses, create multiple searches: --A large amount of remote businesses do not state it on the listing. The seller often provide business location (corporate address), even if there's no traditional in person location. About 70% of businesses that I found were remote upon CIM review did not state it on their listing. --The Business industry and business summary can give signals of remote options (for example, e-commerce, tech, agency have a higher number of remote businesses). So create a search by industry no location related filters beyond Country. And then seek this info from seller. --Then create a separate search that includes keywords (home-based, relocatable, remote) to find the businesses that actually state it. 2. For in person businesses, the sites tend to filter by exact city or state name, and exclude businesses in surrounding MSA or driving radiuses. --This was especially noticeable for cities near a state line (a search for Philadelphia doesn't capture businesses in NJ that are 10 minutes away). --Instead, set a wide location search. You can download listings to CSV and then run through an AI tool to help you filter with better precision. 3. A substantial # of businesses do not list asking prices. If you use asking price filters, you exclude listings with no asking price. --Several businesses have asking price in the CIM but not on the listing. So IMO these are worth a look. --Filtering by EBITDA or SDE generally had more listings than filtering by asking price or revenue. 4. Play with Industry filter vs keyword. --Big sites like Kumo and BigBuySell pull in data from smaller sites and names of industry categories don't always match up neatly. --And niche businesses are not well represented in one category. Example: a lead gen website for dumpsters rentals with remote team was listed as a Texas business in the Waste Management industry. Easily not found by folks seeking lead gen websites! --So create a search by industry filters. And create a separate keyword search of the industry terms with no industry filters. Bottom line: Filters exclude good listings. Run separate searches that focus on a couple attributes at a time. Use keyword searches. When in doubt, ask seller/ review the CIM. Feel free to reach out for more hacks for on-market search. Happy searching!