A d d u c e n t

Using trade groups, professional association websites and trade shows is another way to find M&A prospects for business buyers you are working with or acquisition candidates for yourself.

Its just about a sure thing.  Every industry has its own associations, trade groups and directories that can provide you valuable contact information for business executives (including owners) and many also have trade shows that you can attend.

For example, if you were trying to find plastics companies you would want to put in a search engine like Google: "plastics trade groups", or "plastics associations" or "plastics company directory" to find associations or organizations with lists of many different companies in that particular industry that you can contact.

When you contact them, its about "seed planting" and not "sales pitching".  You don't want to put them on the spot to see if their business is for sale.  You want to plant the "seed" by asking if they know of any owners in their industry interested to sell their business. 

Why are trade shows and conventions a fertile field for finding good M&A prospects?

• One of the main perks that many business owners enjoy is attending the annual trade show or convention for their industry.  It’s often an “expense paid” vacation for them - or for their executives.  So shows and conventions are a great setting to find and talk with business owners and executives that may be difficult to reach at other times and in other settings.
• Trade shows are a great way of finding viable contacts and owners of companies to speak to about your interests (or that of a business buyer if you are working with them to source deals for them to buy).
• Trade shows are an excellent venue to find opportunities and to learn more about specific industries. The forum facilitates open discussions about a business, its products and/or services.  All of which are tremendous learning opportunities.
• As a business buyer or business intermediary working with buyer clients, you want to position yourself to get the first shot at viable business opportunities, preferably in a setting where you have no other competition talking with the business owner about interest in buying businesses in their industry. Trade shows and conventions are such a setting.
• There is no better place where you can gain an understanding about specific companies and a better “feel” for the industry.  The people you talk to; what they have to say and the answers that they give you to your questions will give you insight into the industry and clues as to whether the industry is one worth focusing on to search for viable candidates.

The above are the most important reason for working trades shows in the industries of interest to you.
 

Bottom line:

When you are looking for companies to buy or sourcing deals for buyers and investment firms, you never know where your next deal will come from.  Introducing your self at trade shows, handing out your business card, letting them know about yourself and your business objectives, can and will be passed on to other people. Finding a viable company can happen by being at the right place at the right time or someone passing your name and interest on to the “right person at the right time”.  Working trade shows effectively can be a good way to be at the “right place” at the “right time” to put the word out about the M&A interests of your buyers or about your own acquisition interests.

Important Note: if you are interested in seeing an example of an informative article/document we have availale (written by successful M&A deal intermediaries) that can be personalized for you to use to hand out at trade shows and conventions ... or even use as an email delivery piece for your M&A Deal Finder efforts. Then email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and in the subject line put "Please send me an example of the special article/report to give to business owners".