Fit and risk reasons
The screen explains why a company is worth time, why it may break, and which facts are still missing.
Know which acquisition targets deserve the next call.
Built for independent searchers and small search funds buying a business on a deadline. See which companies deserve your next hour and what to ask before the broker call.
The Stakes
Listings are easy to collect. Good decisions are not.
More listings do not make a better buyer. They make a longer list. The hard part is knowing which target deserves the next hour and which question keeps you from looking unprepared.
!Fresh listings attract every buyer, so speed matters before you spend time on a weak fit.
?Stale listings can mean seller motivation, broken economics, or a process nobody trusts.
$Adjusted earnings can look financeable until add-backs, working capital, and debt service are tested.
SSpreadsheets flatten source quality, making broker claims look as strong as verified evidence.
AIGeneric AI summaries often miss the missing fact that determines whether to ask, watch, pursue, or pass.
One Daily Signal
One ranked decision a day.
Screened rows are where you do the work. The email only arrives when something changed and tells you what to do about it.
8:00 AM SignalDaily shortlist-change email
Sent only when something material changes in the target universe. No meaningful change means no noisy daily email.
- New
- 1 target matches the geography and industry filter.
- Changed
- Seller-note language moved the target from pass to ask.
- Missing
- Customer concentration and owner role still need proof.
- Question
- Request add-backs, quarterly revenue, and owner-transition proof.
Shareable Output
Preview Buy Box
Buy Box
Search fund buyer | $1M to $5M
- Geography
- San Francisco Bay Area, Southern Maine, Georgia
- Included sectors
- HVAC, plumbing, electrical, commercial cleaning, specialty trades
- Excluded sectors
- restaurants, franchises, heavy cyclicality, owner-only revenue
- Target size
- $1M to $5M | $250K to $900K SDE
- Capital lens
- $500K to $1M | Likely using SBA debt
- Source coverage
- Broker pages, marketplaces, registries, directories, source URLs, partner/API feeds, and user-authorized materials
- AI improvement thesis
- Missed calls, quote follow-up, scheduling, CRM hygiene, bookkeeping/admin
Acquisition thesis
Search fund buyer looking for hvac, plumbing, electrical, commercial cleaning, specialty trades in San Francisco Bay Area, Southern Maine, Georgia. SearcherSignal should build screened target rows from matching sources. Each screen should test fit, source confidence, likely using sba debt, owner transferability, debt service, cash-flow pressure, and practical post-close improvements.
Top risks to check first
- Owner can transition from sales and estimating within 12 months
- No single customer above 25%
- License transfer questions are acceptable if surfaced early
- Moderate seasonality if working capital is visible
- Downside DSCR should be reviewed with a qualified lender before a target consumes diligence time.
First 10 search queries
- home services business for sale owner retiring
- HVAC company for sale seller financing
- specialty trades acquisition Georgia
- commercial cleaning route business acquisition
- plumbing business for sale recurring service contracts
- electrical contractor acquisition owner transition
- pool service route business for sale
- garage door company for sale local market
- pest control business acquisition recurring revenue
- landscaping business for sale add backs
This is a screening artifact only. It is not legal, lending, investment, tax, or valuation advice.
Next step
Add your email in the form and choose Email me this buy box to store this criteria set for a sample signal. SearcherSignal needs the criteria before screened target output is useful.
What You Get Back
From a long list to a next step.
Screened target rowExample output
- Company
- Specialty trades target, Georgia
- Source confidence
- Medium | broker listing plus directory match
- Buy-box fit
- Partial fit
- Risk
- Owner-led sales, customer concentration
- Debt service & cash flow
- $2.754M deal, $700k SDE, 80% SBA debt, 10% seller note, 10% equity, ~$386k debt service, ~1.62x DSCR
- Missing facts
- Owner role, add-backs, revenue by quarter
- Question to ask next
- Ask for add-backs, customer concentration, and transition support.
PassWatchAskPursue
Next question
The broker or seller question tied to the fact that would change your decision.
Daily change signal
One email when something material changed. No meaningful change, no noise.
Diligence route
LOI planning, authorized document review, QoE, legal, tax, lender, and operating review status.
Financeability
Cash flow and debt service get a harder look.
SearcherSignal does not tell you a lender will approve a deal. It surfaces the assumptions, pressure points, and missing facts that should shape your lender and advisor questions.
Cash flow
See reported earnings, add-back questions, working-capital needs, and buyer salary assumptions before the next call.
Debt service
Pressure-test DSCR, payment load, seller note structure, and downside coverage while the target is still early.
Buyer equity
Keep equity injection, liquidity, reserves, and capital-stack questions visible instead of buried in a spreadsheet.
Missing facts
Turn weak support into broker, seller, lender, and advisor questions before you spend a diligence week.
Want the financeability checklist?
Get a short checklist for debt service, buyer equity, working capital, seller notes, and the missing facts to ask about before a call.
Why It Is Trustworthy
Built around the decision a searcher has to defend.
SearcherSignal is early. There is no fake logo wall. The proof is the artifact: one screened row. It shows fit and risk. It names missing facts and the next question.
Proof nowA screened target row shows what fits, what is risky, what is missing, and what to ask.
Founder lineIf the output cannot change the next broker call, it does not belong in SearcherSignal.
Proof standardCustomer proof belongs here only when it is specific and permissioned. Until then, the product has to prove itself in the sample signal.
Built from the search workflow
The product mirrors the work a buyer actually does: criteria, source review, fit, financeability, missing facts, and next questions.
Screening, not advice
Debt service, valuation, legal, tax, and deal documents stay framed as early questions for qualified advisors.
Evidence stays visible
Every target screen separates source confidence from broker claims, user notes, and missing support.
Risk Questions
A useful screen answers six questions.
The same screen that proves the source also turns risk into a buyer-ready question.
What is the buy box?
Your investment criteria become explicit. The screen checks industry, geography, size and price range, financing path, and deal breakers.
Is the company a fit?
Each business is checked against your target profile. It checks geography and revenue first. Then it reviews earnings, seasonality, concentration, and competition.
Can cash flow support the debt?
Debt-service coverage is treated as an early screen. Liquidity, working capital, buyer equity, seller note, and lender questions stay visible.
What should the broker answer?
Missing facts become the first call agenda. Ask about add-backs, revenue mix, customer concentration, owner role, and price support.
What should the seller answer?
Seller prep goes deeper than broker copy. Cover operations and employees. Then review systems, customers, equipment, and transition risk.
What is the deal path?
Track LOI terms and diligence status. Keep QoE, legal, tax, financing, and purchase agreement review ready for advisors.
Demo and Tools
Start with the question you already have.
Watch the product flow. Then define criteria or test debt service. Tear down a listing or benchmark an asking price.
Watch the product flow
See criteria become a screened target, a debt-service check, a missing-fact list, and the next broker question.
Captioned walkthrough available in the video controls.
Watch More DemosBuy-Box Builder
Turn your investment criteria into the filter used to monitor targets from multiple sources and score screened targets.
Build My Buy BoxSBA debt-service calculator
Pressure-test debt-service coverage before a weak target consumes another call.
Check Debt ServiceListing Teardown Analyzer
Turn pasted broker copy into missing facts, risk flags, and questions for the first call.
Tear Down ListingAI Improvement Thesis
Turn operating pain into practical first 100-day workflow ideas for post-close review.
Build ThesisIndustry Multiple Benchmark
Compare an asking price to an educational sector band and turn the gap into advisor questions.
Benchmark MultipleNext step
Start with one target worth a real look.
See the sample signal first. If the output is specific enough to trust, build your buy box and choose the plan that matches how actively you are searching.
Shaping your thesis
Start free with a buy box and a sample signal before you ask the market to take you seriously.
Screening active deal flow
Upgrade when you need monitored sources, screened target rows, and fewer weak calls in the pipeline.
Preparing for the next call
Use the screen to see what fits, what is risky, and what needs one sharper question.