A Year and a Half Searching, Lessons Learned so Far

March 27, 2023

by a searcher from University of British Columbia in Kamloops, BC, Canada

Hey everyone, I am a searcher based in British Columbia. I wrote an article about some of the lessons I've learned over the past year and a half searching. Here are the lessons summarized:

Keep your job. It’ll take longer than you think. Your target will change. It's kind of lonely. You're a salesperson. Be genuine. Deal flow isn't always there. Everyone has an opinion.

You can view the article here: https://localmountain.ca/blogs/blog/buying-a-business-a-year-and-a-half-in-lessons-learned

Hopefully, this can help some people who might be starting their journey. I'd be happy to get any feedback.

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Reply by a searcher
from Cornell University in Toronto, ON, Canada

Tim - thanks for sharing. Interesting experience. Your advice re: retaining your job is well received but obviously super dependent on individual circumstances. In some ways, the whole idea of paid search is to mitigate the risks that you mention in your blog post (eating into personal savings, etc.). My concern with having a job during the search process is that it is hard enough to get well informed intermediaries to take searchers seriously for fear they do not actually have the capital/ability to buy the business after a sale process. Accordingly, having a job, which could indicate that one is not "all in" on their search, can just exacerbate those concerns about credibility and ability to close. Best of luck with your search! Always happy to chat if there's anyway I can be helpful.

Reply by a searcher
from University of Southampton in London, UK

Hey Tim. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I am also curious about your first point. Not sure if you're mostly working remotely but did you find that you're constantly missing opportunities to speak with intermediaries or sellers within a reasonable time period because you're in the office? Or did the fact that video calls etc. might have to be arranged, say, 2 days later for example put intermediaries off, as if they can tell you're not committed to the search?

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