Axial - caveat emptor

October 22, 2024
by a searcher in Alpharetta, GA, USA
Background - I have bought 2 cleaning businesses over the past 5+ years and am always on the hunt for the next one. But I'm purely opportunistic - inbound inquiry only.
Someone recommended Axial to me earlier this year and after some discussion I signed the contract. They represent themselves as having proprietary deal flow for which a buyer would pay a fee if a transaction originated by Axial were consummated. If they actually delivered quality proprietary deal flow, I'd be happy to pay the fee.
Since I signed up, I have seen very little flow and none that matched my interests.
Then, last month I saw the same deal (janitorial business) 2x in a week, once on BizBuySell and once on Bristol. So imagine my surprise when I also got an email from Axial with this exact same deal in the same week. While that deal is not a fit, I was still curious about this claim of proprietary deal flow. So I emailed my main CR contact at Axial to ask about this - no response.
Then yesterday I got an email from Axial with another cleaning business (this one in Alabama) which is again not a fit. One day later and I got an email from Transworld with exact same deal.
Suffice to say I will not be interacting with Axial at all in the future. But for all you searchers out there, be aware.
from The University of Michigan in Austin, TX, USA
from Boston University in İstanbul, Türkiye