Take Five #007: The State of the SMB Market (as of May 2022) and more
Five takeaways we loved at Kumo this week
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Take Five #007: The State of the SMB Market (as of May 2022) and more
1. Survey results from 40+ SMB-industry people:
The SMB Market Observer (May 2022 edition) is a compilation of responses from a survey to 40+ small business constituents – operators, lenders, brokers, investors, and service providers. The survey had four questions:
What is your greatest business challenge right now?
What is going really well in your business?
What new trends have you noticed recently or do you expect to see in the near term?
What are the most common issues voiced by other business leaders in your community?
Great read, with direct quotes from the SMB community that you can chew on.
From Tim Ludwig’s SMB Market Observer, May 2022
2. Lessons learned from a new operator, one year into his first SMB acquisition:
3. How to stand out in the crowd to a seller:
One searcher asked the Searchfunder community: “Did you ever circle back around to the sellers to ask them what made them sell to you? What stood out about you or your offer that made them want to sell their business to you?”
Some responses were straightforward:
“From the 5 deals we have closed - the reasons are different for each seller. First was being located in Texas acquiring a TX business. After that, ability to close and having a presence in the industry.”
And some had great stories:
“Talk like a human, be a human, and demonstrate you have the right kind of experience (your story- very critical ) to actually run (and grow) their company.
Here is a story: I had several meetings with the owner of a software company, who ended up selling his businesses to a searcher backed by one of the well-known PEG funds that back searchers from top MBA schools. I passed for a few reasons - but it was a GREAT business. That said, he came to back me before he closed to say, "I'd rather sell this business to you b/c you actually have the skills to sell and grow my company - so if you'd like to reconsider, I'm open to structuring something with you..."
More in the comments in the link below 👇
From “Searchers Turned Operators” on Searchfunder
4. Cold emailing brokers? Great snippets on how to warm up your domain, which providers are commonly used, and how to actually get your email read by others:
5. Great tips for better copywriting that could apply across both marketing and sales:
“When we resolve objections, we empower customers to make better decisions.”
Loved what you read? Subscribe to Take Five to get our top quick reads every week from the team at Kumo. Kumo aggregates thousands of sources into one easy-to-use platform so that you can spend less time sourcing, and more time closing deals.
