How to Find a Business to Buy: A Practical Playbook for Searchers

By Chris Barrett, CPA · Founder and Managing Director, Midwest CPA

The secret is out. More and more people see buying a small business as a real path to building wealth for themselves and their families. With more buyers chasing the same businesses, finding a good one has gotten harder.

The data backs that up. In BizBuySell’s Q3 2026 Insight Report, the obstacle buyers cited most often wasn’t financing or price. It was finding a quality business (31%), well ahead of obtaining financing (15%) and seller asking prices (13%). The same report found that 22% of buyers identify as entrepreneurship-through-acquisition (ETA) or search-fund buyers, and brokers said they were seeing more search funds (32%) and private equity firms (31%) than a year earlier.

Plenty of searchers never close at all. Stanford’s 2026 search fund study found that only 48% of funded searchers who launched from 2021 to 2024 acquired a company. That’s roughly half, and it matches what I see.

This guide covers what separates the searchers who buy from the ones who don’t:

how to set up your search
how each sourcing channel actually works, and how long it takes
how to work brokers so you get shown deals
what to say in outreach
how to screen before an LOI
where quality of earnings and the new SBA rules fit in

Before You Start: Decide How You’re Going to Search

Two decisions shape everything else: how much time you can put in, and whether you search alone.

Full-Time vs. Part-Time

Self-funded searchers who search part-time are at a real disadvantage. Brokers send new listings to the buyers who respond first and look most ready to close. Off-market outreach is a volume game that needs consistent weekly hours. Diligence on a live deal can take most of your time for weeks.

You can still buy a business while working full time. Plenty of people do. But plan for it:

a narrower buy box
fewer channels, worked consistently
a target that can run without you on day one

We cover this in more detail in Buying a Business While Working Full Time.

Solo vs. Partnered

A good partnership can be 1 + 1 = 3, because you divide and conquer. Common splits:

One partner owns broker relationships and the deal pipeline, while the other runs outreach and the CRM.
Once a deal is live, one partner leads diligence, the lender, and the QoE, while the other leads the seller relationship, the employees, and transition planning.

Stanford’s data on funded searchers points the same way. Among searches launched 2021–2024:

58% of partnered searches acquired, vs. 43% of solo searches.
Partnered searches also show up among the drivers of higher returns.

But partnering isn’t for everyone. You split the equity, you need to agree on the buy box and on who runs the company after close, and a bad partnership is worse than none. If you partner, decide up front who does what, during the search and after the close.

A note on the Stanford numbers: the study covers traditional, investor-funded search funds. It doesn’t include self-funded or SBA-only buyers. Use it as directional, not as a forecast for your search.

Step 1: Define Your Buy Box

Everything starts here. Your buy box is a short, specific description of the business you’re looking for. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, conversations with brokers, sellers, and referral sources won’t go anywhere.

Answer these questions:

Size: what you want and what you can afford. Work backward from your equity and financing:
- How much cash can you put in?
- What will a lender finance?
- What earnings do you need to cover the debt with room to spare?
- Our DSCR calculator helps with that math.
Earnings range: a range of SDE or EBITDA, not just revenue.
Location: where you’ll live, and how far you’re willing to travel or relocate. Stanford found that 52% of funded searchers acquired in their own state or region.
Industry: which industries you’ll consider and which you won’t. Our post on finding your right industry goes deeper.
Problems you can solve: what kinds of problems you’re best equipped to fix as an operator, and which businesses tend to have them. Examples: no sales process, messy financials, no second layer of management.
Deal-breakers:
- heavy customer concentration
- licenses only the seller holds
- a business that can’t run without the owner
- anything you won’t own

Where the New SBA Rules Fit Your Buy Box

If you plan to use an SBA 7(a) loan, a few rules affect the size of deal you target. For SBA loans that receive a loan number on or after October 1, 2026:

QoE above $3MM: acquisitions with a business purchase price of $3 million or more require an independent quality of earnings (QoE) report, including a proof of cash. The threshold is measured before equity and seller financing, excluding the appraised value of owner-occupied real estate.
Trailing earnings only: lenders underwrite on historical earnings, not projections.
DSC minimum: at least 1.25x debt service coverage for initial acquisitions.
Valuation: an independent valuation is still required on SBA-financed changes of ownership.
Equity injection: non-cash sources can cover at most half of the required 10% equity injection.

The 7(a) program also caps loans at $5 million.

None of this means you should avoid $3MM+ deals. It means:

your add-backs have to survive a QoE before the bank sizes your loan
your timeline and closing costs need to account for it

We break the rule down in Using an SBA Loan to Buy a Business? You Need Due Diligence.

Step 2: Pick Your Sourcing Channels

Most successful searchers stack several channels and go deep on one or two. Here’s how they compare.

Channel	How deals reach you	Competition	Typical time from first contact to close	Main cost
Online marketplaces (BizBuySell, LoopNet, Flippa)	You search listings and inquire	High: everyone sees the same listing	Same as broker deals once you engage	Your time
Business brokers	Broker sends listings or calls you first	Medium to high	Usually under 6 months in my experience	Your time; relationship building
Investment bankers / M&A advisors	Banker runs a process; you’re invited to bid	Medium to high; often against PE and family offices	Depends on the process timeline	Credibility and capital you can show
Proprietary (off-market) outreach	You contact owners who aren’t selling yet	Low on any one deal	Often over a year in my experience	Data tools, mail, VA help, many hours
Professional referrals (CPAs, attorneys, wealth advisors, lenders)	Someone who knows the owner makes an introduction	Low to medium	Varies; often slower, because sellers aren’t prepared	Time to build trust
Industry networks and events	You meet owners in your target niche	Low to medium	Varies; long relationship cycles	Event fees, travel, sponsorships
Your own newsletter	People in the ETA ecosystem forward you deals	Varies	Varies	A few hours a month

The timelines for broker and proprietary deals come from what I’ve seen with clients, not from a published study. Broker deals tend to move faster because the seller has already decided to sell, priced the business, and gathered financials. Proprietary deals tend to take longer because you’re doing that work with the seller: helping them decide, agreeing on a price, and getting records together.

Step 3: Work Each Channel the Right Way

Online Marketplaces: Use Them to Learn and to Meet Brokers

Sites like BizBuySell, LoopNet, and Flippa get a bad rap, but they’re a great place to start. Use them to:

learn what businesses in your buy box sell for
see what a typical listing and CIM look like
find the brokers who list the kinds of businesses you want

Every listing you inquire on is a chance to start a broker relationship. That’s often worth more than the listing itself.

The market data says to move fast and expect competition at the top end. In BizBuySell’s Q3 2026 report:

businesses priced over $1 million were a record 22% of transactions
they sold at an average 3.73x cash flow and 100.8% of asking price

Good businesses at that size are not sitting around waiting for low offers.

Business Brokers: The Channel My Clients Win With Most

Networking with business brokers is the strategy my clients have had the most success with. Brokers control a large share of small-business deal flow. There are some bad brokers, but the good ones are worth their weight in gold.

What brokers want from you:

A clear buy box, so they know which listings to send you.
Proof you can close:
- your equity
- your financing plan (an SBA lender you’ve already talked to helps)
- your timeline
Speed and respect for their process:
- sign NDAs promptly
- review CIMs within a few days
- ask sharp questions
- give a clear yes or no
No tire-kicking: if a deal isn’t for you, say so quickly and say why. Brokers remember buyers who waste their time.

How to get on a broker’s short list:

Find brokers who regularly sell businesses in your size range, industry, and region. Their current and past listings tell you.
Ask for a 20-minute call or coffee. Bring a one-page buy box and your financing plan.
Sign up for their newsletter or new-listing alerts.
Follow up when something changes, such as a new lender approval or a narrower buy box. Every few weeks is plenty.
When they send you a deal, respond fast. Even a no builds trust if it’s quick and specific.

Are Business Brokers Worth It?

You’ve probably heard that brokers add no value, create friction, and don’t know what they’re doing. Some don’t. But a good broker:

gets the seller ready to sell
sets realistic price expectations
pulls financials together
keeps the deal moving when emotions run high

If you go off-market, you take all of that on yourself.

Broker Newsletters: Be Early

When you meet a broker you like, get on their newsletter. Most brokers keep curated lists so they can send new listings to interested buyers right away. Being on those lists, and responding quickly, gives you the best chance of seeing new deals first.

Your Own Newsletter: Stay Top of Mind

During your search you’ll meet lenders, investors, lawyers, brokers, CPAs, and other searchers. Any of them might come across a deal that fits your buy box. A short monthly update keeps you top of mind.

What you’re looking for: your one-paragraph buy box.
What’s changed: new lender relationships, a refined industry focus, deals you passed on and why.
The ask: “If you hear of an owner thinking about retirement in [industry/region], I’d love an introduction.”

Keep it short. The goal is that people think of you first.

Proprietary (Off-Market) Outreach: Less Competition, More Work, Longer Timeline

As ETA grows, on-market deals in the typical buy box draw more bidders, and competitive processes push prices up. Proprietary outreach means contacting owners of businesses that aren’t for sale yet but fit your buy box.

Know what you’re signing up for. Without a broker, all the work a broker would normally do falls on you:

Finding the deal.
Vetting the seller: are they actually ready to sell, or just curious?
Agreeing on a reasonable price: owners who haven’t talked to a broker often have no grounded sense of value.
Getting financials together: many off-market owners have never prepared a package for a buyer.

That’s why proprietary deals often take more than a year from first contact to close.

How to build the list:

Use data platforms like Apollo to pull businesses that match your buy box by industry, location, and size indicators.
Have affordable contractors or virtual assistants clean the list: remove companies that are too big or too small, already PE-owned, or outside your buy box, and find the owner’s name and contact details.
Reach out across mail, phone, and email to the refined list. A cleaner list gets more positive responses.

A sample multi-touch sequence (illustrative):

Week 1: a personal letter by mail.
Week 2: an email referencing the letter.
Week 3: a phone call.
Week 5: a short follow-up email.
Every quarter after that: a light check-in.

Many owners aren’t ready the first time you reach out; some will be a year later.

Qualify the seller early:

Why would they sell, and when?
What do they want after closing (stay on, step away, keep the real estate)?
Do they have a number in mind, and where does it come from?
Who prepares their books and taxes, and are the financials in decent shape?
Who else would need to agree (spouse, partners, key employees)?

Track your funnel. Measure what you’re getting, not what someone else says the industry gets:

contacts made
conversations
owners who share financials
LOIs

After a few months you’ll know which lists and messages work. An illustrative example of the math (made-up numbers, not a benchmark): if 1,000 contacts produce 30 conversations, 30 conversations produce 5 owners willing to share financials, and 5 produce one LOI, then one LOI takes roughly 1,000 well-targeted contacts. Plug in your own rates.

Investment Bankers and M&A Advisors: For Larger Deals

If your buy box is in the lower middle market, a few million dollars of EBITDA or more, many sellers hire an investment banker or M&A advisor instead of a business broker. Bankers run structured processes with deadlines, management meetings, and often a sell-side QoE. You’ll compete with PE firms and family offices.

To get invited into processes:

show capital you can commit (committed investors, a lender, or an equity partner)
show a credible plan
give an honest picture of how fast you can close

Professional Referral Network: CPAs, Attorneys, Wealth Advisors, Lenders

Reach out to as many people as you can who might own, or know someone who owns, a business that could be for sale:

accountants
wealth advisors
lenders
attorneys
community leaders in the areas where you’d buy

They see owners’ succession worries long before a broker does.

Make it easy for them to help you:

Send your one-paragraph buy box and a one-line description of who you are.
Explain how you’d treat their client: a fair process, respect for employees, and a willingness to keep the advisor involved.
Follow up a few times a year, not every week.

You can widen your reach on social media too: Facebook groups, LinkedIn, and X.

Industry Networks and Events

This one is gaining traction. As the owner of an accounting firm, I’ve seen it firsthand. At industry conferences, people buy vendor tables just to talk with firm owners and let them know they’d like to buy a firm. Others go as regular attendees to build relationships that could eventually lead to an acquisition.

Events work for two reasons:

Scale: you can meet hundreds of owners in your target niche in one place.
Education: you learn the industry’s economics, vocabulary, and problems. When you do buy, you’re far ahead of where you’d otherwise be, and owners take you more seriously.

Step 4: Run Your Search Like a Pipeline

Treat the search as a weekly process, not a burst of activity when you feel motivated.

Set weekly activity targets you control:
- broker touches
- outreach contacts
- referral conversations
- CIMs reviewed
Use a simple CRM or spreadsheet with stages: contacted, conversation, NDA, CIM, financials, IOI/LOI, diligence, closed/lost.
Plan for multiple LOIs. Stanford found that funded searchers who acquired in 2024–25 signed an average of 2.5 LOIs, with the first one around month 7. Searchers who signed an LOI within 6 months acquired 74% of the time, vs. 48% for the cohort overall. Activity early in the search matters.
Expect deals to die. A broken LOI is a normal part of the process, not a sign your search is failing.

How long will it take? If you stack these strategies and go really deep on one or two, I’d expect most serious searchers to find a business they want to buy within 6 to 18 months. For funded search funds, Stanford’s median search length for 2024–25 acquisitions was 21 months. Closing adds time on top of finding the deal: broker deals usually move faster, and proprietary deals often take over a year.

Step 5: Screen Hard Before You Sign an LOI

Most of the deals you see won’t be right. Kill them quickly so you have time for the ones that might be.

Quick screen (first 30 minutes with a CIM or owner conversation):

Does it fit the buy box? If not, pass politely and tell the broker why.
Can the earnings support the debt? Run a rough DSCR at today’s rates, using trailing earnings, not projections.
Are the earnings stable? Big swings in revenue or margin from year to year need an explanation.
How big and how complicated are the add-backs? Large or messy add-backs mean a tougher diligence and more lender pushback.
Can it run without the owner? Who holds the customer relationships, licenses, and key know-how?

Red flags worth digging into before an LOI:

One customer, supplier, or contract making up a large share of revenue (see Customer Concentration Risk).
Financials that don’t tie to the tax returns, or books that are cash basis with no attempt at accrual.
“One-time” expenses that show up every year in a different form.
Family on payroll doing real work, with their salaries added back.
Declining recent months that the CIM’s annual numbers hide.
Working capital needs the asking price doesn’t account for. Estimate them before you price your offer (see Estimating Working Capital Before LOI).
A seller who won’t share basic documents until you’re under LOI.

For a section-by-section approach to the deal packet, read How to Read a CIM. If something comes up under LOI that you can’t get comfortable with, here’s when walking away is the smart move.

Step 6: Pay for a Quality QoE

Finding the business is half the job. Making sure the earnings are real is the other half.

Stanford asked searchers why their LOIs fell apart. 79% cited “discovery in due diligence,” far more than valuation differences (45%). Problems that surface in diligence are what kill most deals that die. Finding them early saves months of search time and real money.

My advice:

Get a second set of eyes before the LOI on any deal you’re serious about: CIM, tax returns, add-backs. It’s quick and cheap compared with a broken deal.
Pay for a quality QoE after the LOI. A QoE is the thing standing between you and buying the wrong company. Choose the provider on experience with businesses like yours and on how thorough their work is, not on the lowest price. Learn more in What Is a Quality of Earnings Report? and What Factors Influence the Cost of a QoE?.
On SBA deals of $3 million or more, coordinate with your lender before you engage anyone.
- The lender has to obtain the QoE.
- SBA’s September 2026 update says a QoE already prepared for the buyer can be used with a reliance letter or a secondary review by a different firm.
- Lenders differ on how they apply that.
- Agree on scope, reliance terms, and who reviews the report up front, so you don’t pay twice.

Common Mistakes That Stall a Search

A buy box so broad nobody remembers it, or so narrow nothing fits.
Treating brokers as obstacles instead of the main source of deal flow.
Going off-market without the time or patience for a longer timeline.
Searching part-time with a full-time plan. Match your channels to your hours.
Falling in love with the first deal and skipping a real screen.
Choosing a QoE on price alone, then discovering problems after closing.
Ignoring the SBA rules until the lender’s underwriting shrinks your loan after the LOI.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a buy box when buying a business?

A buy box is a short description of the business you want: size (earnings range and price you can finance), location, industry, the problems you’re equipped to solve, and your deal-breakers. Keep it to one paragraph so brokers and referral sources remember it.

Where can I find small businesses for sale?

Start with online marketplaces like BizBuySell, LoopNet, and Flippa, mainly to learn the market and meet brokers. Then build relationships with business brokers and get on their newsletters. If you have the time, add proprietary outreach, referrals from CPAs, attorneys, wealth advisors and lenders, and industry events.

Should I buy an on-market or off-market business?

Each has trade-offs. Broker deals come with a seller who’s ready, a price, and a financial package. They usually move faster, but you face more competition. Off-market deals can mean less competition, but you have to find, vet, and price the deal yourself, and they often take more than a year to close.

How long does it take to find a business to buy?

Searchers who combine several strategies and go deep on one or two often find a business within about 6 to 18 months. Funded search funds that acquired in 2024–25 reported a median search of 21 months. Closing time comes on top of that.

Can I find a business to buy while working full time?

Yes, but you’re at a disadvantage against full-time searchers on speed and volume. Narrow your buy box, focus on one or two channels, build strong broker relationships, and target businesses that can run without you on day one.

Should I search with a partner?

A good partner lets you divide and conquer, and Stanford’s data shows partnered funded searches acquired more often (58% vs. 43%). But you share the equity and need to agree on roles before and after close. It isn’t for everyone.

Does the new SBA rule affect which businesses I should target?

If you use an SBA 7(a) loan and the business purchase price is $3 million or more, the lender must get an independent quality of earnings report for loans numbered on or after October 1, 2026. Plan your timeline, costs, and lender conversations around it. And expect your loan to be sized on earnings the QoE supports, not the broker’s adjusted number.

When should I bring in a CPA or QoE provider?

Bring someone in when you’re serious about a deal. A light review of the CIM and tax returns before the LOI helps you price and structure the offer. The full quality of earnings work typically starts right after the LOI is signed.

Found a Deal? Make Sure It’s the Right One

Once you find a business you like, the next step is making sure the numbers hold up. I’m Chris Barrett, owner and founder of Midwest CPA. We help acquisition entrepreneurs avoid buying the wrong company and successfully grow the right one, from a first look at the CIM to a full quality of earnings analysis.

Schedule an appointment with Midwest CPA →

Sources

BizBuySell, Insight Report, Q3 2026 (released Oct 16, 2026): https://www.bizbuysell.com/insight-report/
Stanford GSB, 2026 Search Fund Study: Selected Observations (Kelly, Zenios, Ng; June 30, 2026): https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/2026-search-fund-study-selected-observations. Covers traditional funded search funds only.
SBA Information Notice 5000-882227, Technical Updates to SOP 50 10 8.1 (published Sep 25, 2026; effective Oct 1, 2026): https://www.sba.gov/document/information-notice-5000-882227-issuance-technical-updates-sop-50-10-81
Carr, Riggs & Ingram, “New SBA Quality of Earnings Requirement”: https://www.criadv.com/insight/sba-quality-of-earnings-requirement-7a-loans/

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Disclaimer

The content contained in this blog post is intended for general informational purposes only and is not meant to constitute legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. You should consult a qualified legal or tax professional regarding your specific situation.