By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

Search fund deal sourcing is a relationship game. Your deal is usually already in your network, and the question is whether you are in front of it when the timing turns.

Here is the scene. You are 14 months into your search. Your investors want an update. Somewhere in your outreach list is an owner you spoke with in month three who said “not now, maybe next year.” Next year is now. If you do not reach out this week, the next buyer who does is the one he calls back.

The numbers every searcher should know

The path to one deal is long. In the IESE and Stanford International Search Funds 2024 study, the average searcher looked at more than 3,000 businesses, had personal conversations with 159 owners, and signed about four letters of intent before acquiring. The median search took 21 months from start to close.

The same study found that searchers ranked proprietary search, meaning direct contact with owners through their own network, their investors’ network and outreach, as their main source of deal flow, ahead of brokers and investment banks.

Timing matters too. The study found that nearly 40 percent of searchers who had not signed a letter of intent in their first 12 months never acquired a business.

The good news: the Stanford GSB 2026 Search Fund Study reports that nearly 60 percent of search funds do acquire a company.

Your deal is in the 159 conversations

Read that again. 159 owner conversations for one deal. Most searchers file each one as a yes or a no. Most of them are a “not yet.”

The owner who is two years from retirement. The founder whose partner has not agreed yet. The operator who wants one more good year. Each of those is a future deal, and each one goes to whoever stayed in touch.

What I tell searchers: treat every “not now” as a date, not a no. The question is not whether the owner will sell. It is whether you will still be in touch the day the timing changes.

A searcher who keeps 159 conversations warm has a pipeline. A searcher who lets them go cold starts over every quarter.

The four groups to work every week

Owners who said “not now.” Your highest value list. Note what they said and when, and come back with a reason, not a “just checking in.”

Brokers. Brokers sell many businesses that never fit your thesis, but they remember who called recently and who was easy to work with. In the IBBA Market Pulse for Q2 2026, lower middle market deals took 11 to 12 months to close. That is a long time to stay in front of someone. See how to stay top of mind with brokers during a 12 month deal cycle.

Advisors around owners. CPAs, estate lawyers and wealth managers hear about a sale before anyone. They refer to the searcher they remember.

Your investors and their networks. Your investors want you to win. Most will make introductions if you make it easy and keep them updated with something specific.

What to send, and when

The best reason to reach out is something that just happened to them: a new hire, an anniversary, a post about the business, a move in their industry, a deal closed nearby. A two sentence note that mentions it beats a quarterly newsletter.

Here is how I would run it. Four rules.

1. Nobody important goes 90 days without hearing from you.
2. Every touch has a reason tied to them, not to your search.
3. When an owner tells you a timeline, that date goes somewhere you will see it.
4. When you hear “not now,” ask when, and come back then.

You already know all four. The search eats the week anyway. That is the gap between knowing and doing.

Ten minutes a day during your search

That gap is why I built FRONT OF MIND. It does the remembering and the watching for you.

It opens on your 10 minutes for today: the owners, brokers and advisors who can move your search forward right now. Each one has a one line reason why today. They posted. A follow up is due. Their company was in the news. You met at an event weeks ago and never followed up. They are going cold.

Each one comes with a draft, written like a text, 40 words max. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits. Ask Liala “who do I know that is a CPA in Ohio” and get the right people with why. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them. Export or delete anytime.

Every day there is a conversation in your network that can move you closer to your letter of intent. Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who comes up first.

See how it works