Searching Tip: Google the firm, the names, street view the business address

January 12, 2024
by a searcher from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management in Newtown, PA 18940, USA
I don't know if this is common knowledge since I'm learning as I go but in case solo searchers are not doing this stuff, here is what I've learned. Google everything you can find in the CIM/CBR.
I was looking at a business that looked great on paper until I discovered (using Google, Linkedin, and my state's business entity lookup) that the seller's son had opened exactly the same company a few miles up the road. I've found several businesses with questionable affiliations which if nothing else allow for pointed questions pre-LOI.
I was looking at a different business and discovered most of the employees were related to the owner via bloodline or marriage. This took a bit more Googling work than normal but it was like a thread on a sweater that I just kept pulling.
I have not found anything to cause me to walk on street view but I have stumbled into interesting aspects of consideration as a result. Maybe everyone is doing this already and saying "welcome to the club" but I thought I'd share anyway.
from Western Illinois University in St. Louis, MO, USA
in Dallas, TX, USA