What motivates a seller to sell?

January 21, 2025
by a searcher from University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA, USA
In your deal xp, what have you guys found to be the motive the seller sells, if any? If the business I'd be looking for has all the characteristics of a business I would want to take over, I wonder, why would the seller want to sell if business is booming (other than age/retiring owner) ? These characteristics are: Recurring revenue, no dependability on small number of clients, solid profit margin and SDE, growth YOY, etc, all textbook in what we look for. I'd love to hear some perspectives on this! Thanks
from University of Maryland at College Park in Danville, CA, USA
- Other projects: Some founders want a new challenge or want to focus on a business that they like better.
- Death/divorce/disease: These can cause a big change.
You'll know a seller is motivated when their answer to "will you sell me your company?" is something like "Is your money green?"
from McGill University in San Diego, CA, USA