On Twitter, it seems everyone that wants to buy a business looks in the same few places.

I’ve been an Acquire (formally “Microacquire”) subscriber for two years (I bought a subscription for my brother’s agency to find acquisition opportunity).

I’ve sold two businesses on Flippa.

I’ve looked at hundreds of deals on other online listing/brokerage sites.

I consistently find the same thing: unequal supply/demand. There are more qualified buyers than high-quality businesses.

On top of that, filtering through all the junk listings on sites like this is a tall task.

Real estate and internet businesses

To me, buying a business on Acquire is like buying a rental property on Zillow.

There are for sure some great rentals on Zillow, but you’re insane if you think you’re the only one on those deals. It’s the most obvious place for people to look.

I think Acquire is a solid product and really respect the founder, Andrew (see his responses on my tweet thread… the guy appears to be a great leader.) But, I’ve come to realize I’m probably not the right buyer for the types of sellers on Acquire.

I want a deal. I want to hit a homerun the day I close the sale, and I have yet to find such a business for sale.

There’s a saying in real estate: You make your money on the buy.

It means if you buy at the right price, you significantly reduced your risk in a transaction.

I’m applying the same buying philosophy to buying an internet business.

The best real estate deals are off-market

I have a friend who buys large multi-family complexes.

His sales cycle is months to years, because his sales cycle is dependent on a relationship, and relationships take time.

But he finds amazing deals on amazing terms that make other real estate investors wonder how he finds them.

(It ain’t on Zillow.)

Can’t buying an internet business go the same way? Maybe it’s entirely too much work for most people, but not for me.

I actually love the process of finding super interesting businesses no one on Twitter has heard about and connecting with the owner.

Even if the owner doesn’t sell, it’s never a wasted conversation, because I learn a lot in the process.

We’ll see if this strategy works.

Wordpress competitor that prints $$

This week, I want to highlight the business I’m most excited about:

• Competes with Wordpress

• In business since 2009

• Neglected product and marketing

• Loyal customer base (many original customers still paying monthly retainer 14 years later [!!])

• ~$150k/year net profit with no employees

I love this business. I think there are a ton of levers to improve the business (marketing and pricing, for example) and the business is so off-the-grid that the owner told me he’s never been approached about selling. Crazy.

I’m currently building a CRM process to follow up with guys like this on a regular cadence. If nothing else, I hope we can stay in touch and build a friendship.

Personally, I’d rather spend a year cultivating relationships like this, to buy a business like that, than try and hawk a homerun deal on Acquire.