How to Find (and Evaluate) the Right Businesses for Sale in 2025

Explore the ins and outs of buying a business. This guide provides actionable advice on finding deals, valuing companies, and navigating the acquisition process.

George Wellmer
George Wellmer

People don’t talk enough about the best way to become an entrepreneur: buy a business.


There are thousands of businesses for sale right now—many of them public, and even more private. Some are listed. Others aren’t. Owners don’t always announce they want out, but they’ll listen if someone serious comes along.


So the problem isn’t whether there are businesses for sale—it’s how to find the right ones and know what you’re looking at when you find them.


Tupelo’s marketplace makes this easier. Thousands of listings. NDAs handled in a click. Brokers who actually respond. Check it out here.


3 Ways People Actually Find Businesses for Sale


There are three main paths:


1. Marketplaces

Most buyers start here. Marketplaces like BizBuySell aggregate listings from business brokers and direct from business owners. These range from $50K Boba Shops to $5M+ manufacturing firms. BizBuySell has the largest selection of inventory.


The problem is popular marketplaces are not transparent, do not yield a high response rate from the listing broker, and are riddled with dead listings - meaning the business is not actually for sale. Listings usually hide the name and location of the business, and details are vague until you sign an NDA. Even after the NDA is executed there is a process to receiving relevant documentation.


Tupelo’s marketplace simplifies this. It’s faster (you can sign NDAs on the platform) and more responsive (brokers actually reply). It's the most direct way to see what’s out there.


2. Direct Outreach

This method feels like cold-calling—and basically is. You pick an industry, make a list of businesses you like, find the owners’ emails, phone numbers and address, and reach out and ask if they’d ever consider selling.


Most won’t. But a few will. And those can be better deals: less competition and potentially better terms.


This method is harder and take longer to yield results. You need data, time, and thick skin. It’s a numbers game.


3. Referrals

Here’s a hack: make sure everyone in your life knows you’re looking for a business. Tell your CPA. Tell your lawyer. Tell your real estate agent. Tell the guy who sells restaurant supplies.


Business owners talk to these people long before they talk to a broker or a cold caller.


Many deals change hands quietly, through networks. You want to be part of those networks.


What Kind of Businesses Are Actually for Sale?


Buyers want the same thing: recurring revenue, passive ownership, loyal staff, transferable contracts, recession resistance.


But most businesses aren’t 100% like that.


They’re messy. Owners are burned out. Records are incomplete. Sales are flat. Key employees are threatening to leave.


That doesn’t make them bad. It just means they’re real. And for the right buyer, that “hair” is opportunity.


Most businesses for sale fall under $1M in revenue. As you go up the size ladder, competition gets fierce—because the economics get better, and institutional buyers (search funds, PE firms, family offices) start circling.


Challenges You’ll Face Finding Businesses for Sale


Finding a business to buy is a long process. The headlines make it sound like deals happen overnight. They don’t.


You’ll send thousands of emails, take hundreds of calls, and underwrite dozens of deals before you close one. It’s slow, frustrating, and full of dead ends.


The four biggest obstacles:

  • Deal flow – You can’t buy what you can’t see. You need a steady stream of businesses for sale, filtered by industry, geography, and price.
  • Access – Brokers don’t always respond. Many listings go cold. Some owners ghost you.
  • Evaluation – Once you get a business on the hook, how do you know it’s any good?
  • Financing – Even if you like it, how are you going to pay for it?


Let’s break two of the major issues down.


How to Create Deal Flow

  • Be relentless. Most buyers quit too soon.
  • Get specific. What industries do you want? What states? What size?
  • Build a list. Use tools like Clay, Apollo, or LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
  • Build a process. Email campaigns. Call follow-ups. Track everything.


How to Get Brokers to Respond

  • Sign the NDA. Fill out the buyer profile. Show you’re serious.
  • Call them. Yes, call. Most buyers don’t.
  • Be nice. Brokers deal with tire-kickers all day. Stand out by being professional and grateful.


What Makes a Good Business?


You don’t need perfection. You need clarity.


Ask:

  • Do I want to run this business for the next 5 years?
  • Is the revenue stable and transferable?
  • Is the industry growing or shrinking?
  • Can I operate this with my skillset and location?


These are surface-level questions. Ask them early. If it passes, then go deeper: financials, contracts, employees, lease, etc.


Red Flags to Watch For


  • Declining revenue
  • Revenue is not transferable
  • Owner is the business (no systems, no team)
  • Lawsuits or regulatory risk
  • Bad online reviews
  • Problematic lease or inventory issues


These aren’t automatic deal-killers—but they should slow you down.


How to Value a Business for Sale


In the SMB space, most businesses are priced using multiples of earnings—usually Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE).


Here’s how to think about valuation:

  • Start with rule-of-thumb multiples (by industry) - can be found on Tupelo’s website
  • Adjust for add-backs (owner perks, one-time costs)
  • Compare to comps (what similar businesses sold for)
  • Use tools like Tupelo’s valuation blog to benchmark


If you're using SBA financing, remember the lender needs to hit a 1.25x DSCR (debt service coverage ratio). That puts a hard cap on how much you can pay, if you're looking for SBA financing with standard distribution 80-10-10.


Final Thoughts


There are thousands of businesses for sale right now. Most won’t be right for you. That’s okay. This is a filtering game.


The best buyers are persistent, process-driven, and fast at saying “no.” That frees up their time to go deeper on the ones that might actually work.


If you’re serious about buying a business in 2025, start now. Set up your systems. Build relationships. Be patient.


And if you want help—reach out. Tupelo helped over 1,000 businesses change hands last year. We know what we’re doing, and we’re happy to help.