How to buy a business that isn't for sale

If you've spent time on business-for-sale websites, you've probably noticed what everyone notices. The good listings go fast, the rest have been sitting for a reason, and every serious buyer in your area is looking at the same few companies.

There's another way, and it's how many good companies actually change hands. You find an established business you'd be proud to own, and you write to the owner directly, before anyone else does.

Why most good companies never get listed

Many owners of established small companies never hire a broker. Some haven't decided what they want to do. Some don't want employees, customers or competitors to hear that the business might be for sale. Some assume their company is too small or too specialized to interest anyone. And many have simply never been asked.

An owner in their sixties who has run a company for thirty years is often thinking about what comes next, whether or not the business is listed. A thoughtful letter can arrive at exactly the right time.

How to find them

You're looking for companies that have lasted, are big enough to support you and a loan, and are still run by the people who built them. Public records tell you more than you'd expect:

• State business filings show when a company was formed, whether it still files every year, and the officers who run it.
• Professional and contractor licenses show who holds the license the business depends on, and for how long.
• Local business tax records show where a company operates and roughly how much equipment it has.
• Federal loan records, like the 2020 Paycheck Protection Program data, give a rough sense of how many people a company employed.

None of this reveals a company's profit. Together, though, it shows which companies are established, active, still owner-run and roughly the right size, and that's enough to decide who to write to.

How to write to an owner

The letter matters more than anything else. An owner who has never thought about selling will take a form email for a sales pitch and delete it. But they'll read a short, personal letter from a real person.

A good first letter:

• Is about them, not you. Say what you noticed about their company and why it caught your attention: how long it has been around, what it does well, the reputation it has built.
• Says plainly who you are. Your name, where you live, your work, and why you want to own a business like theirs. One short paragraph.
• Is honest about what you want. You'd like to buy a company like theirs someday and would welcome a conversation, with no pressure and no timeline.
• Makes promises only if you mean them. If you'd keep the name and the team, say so. If you're not sure, don't.
• Leaves the numbers out. The first letter is about whether you're someone they'd want to talk to. Price comes much later.
• Is short. One page, signed by you, with an easy way to reach you.

Paper still works. A personal letter in the mail stands out from email, and owners of established companies are often more used to it. Many will call before they write back.

What to expect

Most owners won't reply, and that's normal. Some will write back to say not now. Thank them with a polite note and put a reminder in your calendar for a year out. A few will want to talk.

When one does, start with a conversation, not an offer. Learn how the company works, what the owner cares about and what they'd want for their team. If you both want to keep going, you'll sign a confidentiality agreement and ask for financial statements. From there it looks like any other purchase, with a lender, an accountant and an attorney on your side.

Doing it for a whole region

The hard part has always been finding the companies. Going through state filings, licenses and tax rolls by hand for a whole region takes weeks, and you still have to work out which companies are the right size for you.

That's what Second & Main does. Tell us where you want to own a business, what kinds of companies interest you and how much you'd invest. We'll show you the established companies that fit, with the research and a first letter in your own words.