Alright, let’s talk about diving into the Seattle small business market. I got this itch a while back, thinking maybe I’d buy a little something, run my own show. So, I figured I’d document how I went about it, step-by-step.
First thing, naturally, was hitting the computer. I just typed ‘small business for sale seattle’ into the search engine. Simple as that. A whole slew of websites came up – mostly brokers, listing sites, that kind of thing. You know the ones.
Spent a good few evenings just browsing through these listings. It was kind of overwhelming at first. You see everything listed – cafes, small tech firms, retail shops, service businesses. Some looked promising on the surface, others you could tell right away weren’t for me. I tried to narrow it down by industry, things I actually know something about or could see myself doing day-in, day-out.
After earmarking a few potentials, the next step was actually reaching out. This usually meant filling out a contact form on a broker’s website or finding an email address. Sent out maybe half a dozen inquiries to start. Got some automated replies, then usually an email from a broker asking for more info about me, and almost always, asking me to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before they’d share any real details.
Signing NDAs became routine. Once I got past that, I started receiving the information packets, or Confidential Business Reviews (CBRs) as some call them. This is where you get the financials, a description of the business, maybe some history. Honestly, deciphering these took time. You gotta look closely at the numbers, try to understand what’s really going on, not just the rosy picture sometimes painted.
Digging Deeper
For a couple of businesses that still looked interesting after reviewing the paper details, I set up calls with the brokers. Asked a ton of questions. Why is the owner selling? What are the biggest challenges? What’s the lease situation like? You try to get a feel beyond the numbers.
I even managed to do a couple of discreet visits. For one retail spot, I just went in as a customer, looked around, observed the flow, the staff interaction. Didn’t let on who I was, of course. For another, the broker arranged a meeting with the owner after hours. That was super insightful, hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth, though you always take it with a grain of salt.
Here’s what I noticed during this whole process:
- Valuations can be tricky. Some asking prices seemed sky-high based on the financials I saw. Really gotta do your own homework on what a fair price might be.
- Getting clean, clear financial records wasn’t always straightforward. Sometimes it felt like pulling teeth.
- The time commitment just for searching and initial diligence is significant. It’s not a quick thing.
So, where did I land? Well, I haven’t bought anything yet. Looked seriously at two businesses, made an initial offer on one, but we couldn’t agree on terms. The other one just didn’t feel right after meeting the owner. The search kind of fizzled out for a bit as life got busy, but the experience was valuable. Learned a ton about the process, about valuations, and about what kind of questions to ask. Maybe I’ll pick it up again down the road, maybe not. But that’s basically how I tackled trying to find a small business for sale here in Seattle. Just putting one foot in front of the other and seeing what turned up.
