Re-defining my buy box

June 25, 2025

by a searcher from University of Toronto - Joseph L. Rotman School of Management in Toronto, ON, Canada

Hi all, I'm looking for some tips to redefine my buy box. I've been looking at various sectors -- niche B2B services, children's educational programming, etc., and it's more of a situation where I don't know exactly what I want. This criteria is leading to low deal flow and non-scalable processes ("I know a good deal when I see it"). I'm stuck on how to build this out with better focus. I would love something that needs operational improvements (which fits with my background), but this seems impossible to find without going into a conversation with the seller (and is non scalable). My background is in tech startups, but I'm looking to avoid this area because of the uncertainty that AI. I'm also not interested in blue collar businesses because it's an area I'm nether interested nor strong in. My strengths are around operational improvements (tools / systems / processes, financial understanding, strategic and operational planning, metrics / KPIs, hiring, etc.). I'm looking at businesses in the $200k - $500k SDE range (which I know is smaller than most others here). I'm hoping to get some practical advice on how to create a more well defined buy box from the community.

Reply by a professional-advisory
in San Antonio, TX, USA

Michael Girdley's take on building a buy box: QUANTITATIVE - industry (where do you have an unfair advantage?) - location - gross margin (do you have a preference between low and high margin?) - company age (could impact financing) - capital requirements - ACV - do you want a few big customers (more relationship building) or a ton of little customers (more data crunching and marketing tweaks) QUALITATIVE - company health (are you up for a turnaround, if you find the right price?) - competition (are you up against PE?) - tailwinds vs headwinds (where are things going in the next 5-10 years?) - seller context (why are they getting out?) - room to grow (are you looking to buy and build, or buy and maintain?) - "cocktail party rule" (would you feel proud to bring it up in casual conversation? e.g. strip clubs, weed dispensaries, etc) Think through your preferences on these. Then pick whether each one is a "nice to have" or a "must have". The goal is to be able to say "no" as quickly as possible, and move on to the next.

Reply by a searcher
in Mississauga, ON, Canada

"I would love something that needs operational improvements (which fits with my background), but this seems impossible to find without going into a conversation with the seller" That's your problem right there. You should expect to have dozens or hundreds or even thousands of conversations getting to the right deal. Is it time intensive - 100%. But until you're in bolt-on mode and know the ins and outs of a sector - that's just how it is.

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