How to approach a business owner about selling
By Jason, founder of JW AI Works
An owner who isn't selling may never have been asked. Your first message sets the tone for everything after it. This guide covers how to approach a business owner about selling, with a sample email, follow-ups and a short call script.
These are general tips for buyers, not legal advice. Laws on commercial email and calls vary, so check with your own attorney before you start outreach.
Before you reach out
- Know what you want to buy. Write down your buy box: industry, states, size range, years in business and anything to leave out. Our guide on how to find off-market businesses to buy walks through building a list.
- Know why this business. One specific reason you picked them (how long they've been around, the work they do, where they are) shows you're not sending a mass mailing.
- Be ready to say who you are. Owners want to know who's asking: your name, your background and how you plan to pay for a purchase, in plain words.
Writing the first email
Keep it short, honest and about them:
- Write as yourself, in the first person. You're a buyer talking to an owner.
- Say plainly that you're looking to buy a business like theirs.
- Give your one specific reason for writing to them.
- Ask one easy question, such as whether they'd be open to a short call.
- Don't mention price, valuation or terms. It's too early, and it can put owners off.
- Include your name, your mailing address and an easy way to opt out.
- Use an honest subject line. No "Re:" or "Fwd:" on a first email, and nothing that hints you've talked before.
- Don't invent urgency or other buyers. No "I need an answer this week," and no claims about offers you don't have.
- Don't pretend to know the owner or to have a referral or past relationship you don't have.
- Email the owner's business address, not a personal one.
Sample first email
Subject: A question about {Company}
Hi {First name},
I'm {Your name}. I'm looking to buy one {industry} business in {region} and keep it running the way the owner built it. {Company} stood out because {specific reason}.
Would you be open to a short call sometime in the next few weeks? If the timing is wrong, I understand.
{Your name}
{Your mailing address}Not interested? Reply "stop" and I won't email again.
Example only. Write your own emails in your own voice.
Following up
Send up to 2 short follow-ups, a week or so apart, and then stop. Each one should be shorter than the last. For example:
Hi {First name}, just bringing this back to the top of your inbox. Would a short call make sense sometime this quarter? {Your name}
If an owner replies "no" or asks you to stop, stop for good and keep a record so they aren't contacted again.
A short call script
When an owner agrees to talk, keep the first call relaxed. You're getting to know each other.
- Thank them and set the agenda. "Thanks for making time. I'd love to hear how you started the business, and I'll tell you a bit about me. Then we can see whether it makes sense to keep talking."
- Let them talk. Ask how they started, what they're proud of and what a normal week looks like.
- Share your story. Why this industry, what you'd keep the same and what kind of owner you'd be.
- Ask about timing, gently. "Have you thought about what the next few years look like for you and the business?"
- Agree on a next step. A second call, a visit or a nondisclosure agreement before any financials.
If the owner asks about price
Be honest about where you are. Price, value and terms are for you to work out with your own advisers once you know the business. Klontak doesn't advise on price, value or terms.
Common mistakes
- Long first emails that read like a sales pitch
- Talking about price before you understand the business
- Sending from your main email domain at high volume
- Ignoring an owner who asks you to stop
- Pretending to be someone you're not. Always write as yourself.
Where Klontak fits
Klontak writes emails like these in your voice, you approve every one, and we send them in your name from inboxes set up just for you. We sort the replies, ask interested owners three short questions you choose, and send them your calendar link. From there, the conversation is yours. Klontak never negotiates or advises on price or terms. We never join your calls.
It's $750 a month, flat, with no commission and no success fee.