There’s a pattern I’ve been noticing lately: more questions are being asked, but fewer deals are being done.
Many buyers come in with a standard playbook: a page of questions, requests for full P&Ls, add-backs, customer breakdowns, inventory, contracts, and sometimes even operational-level details. It looks professional. It looks thorough.
But frankly, I no longer prioritise responding to these. Not because I’m unwilling to cooperate — but because this isn’t the start of a deal. This is due diligence.
The Questions Are Fine — The Timing Isn’t
These questions will inevitably come up in every transaction. But the problem is that many people are demanding full information before they’ve formed any kind of view. Does this business suit you? Not sure yet. What’s it roughly worth? No idea. Can you run it? Also unclear. And yet, full data is being requested.
Transactions Work Both Ways
From my side as a broker, there’s plenty I’d love to know upfront too: what’s your financial position, what’s your net worth, are you a cash buyer or do you need financing? These are equally important to understanding whether a deal can proceed.
But I don’t ask them upfront either. Not because they don’t matter — but because without basic fit, they serve no purpose and feel premature.
Step One Is Not Information — It’s Judgement
The real first step in any transaction is forming a judgement: is this business within your scope? Does the pricing logic roughly make sense to you? Can you absorb the risk? Only once that foundation exists does it make sense to move into due diligence, financials, and deal structure.
Another Pattern That’s Even More Common
Looking at our enquiry records, a pattern stands out immediately: today someone asks about a $1M business, tomorrow a $200K one in a completely different industry. It looks like activity, but there’s no clear direction.
These buyers aren’t looking for a business — they’re mapping the market. Buyers who are genuinely ready tend to have a clear sense of their budget range, the industries they’re open to, and how involved they can realistically be. Even if they’re not fully decided, they have boundaries.
From a broker’s perspective, this is a practical problem: no range means no filter; no filter means no judgement; no judgement means no deal. A good broker doesn’t serve everyone — they help the people who know what they want move faster.
Buyers Who Actually Close Think Differently
The buyers I’ve seen actually close deals all share a few traits: they don’t come in asking for everything, they focus quickly on what matters, they ask directly when something isn’t clear, and they give an early view. It doesn’t have to be precise — but there’s always a rough multiple, a price range, or a structural direction.
Because they understand: without a view, there is no next step. The more you look without forming a judgement, the harder it becomes to decide.
Markets don’t wait for certainty. Deals only wait for someone to act.
