Deal flow is the whole game. Most people who fail to buy a business don't fail at diligence or negotiation — they fail at seeing enough deals to have a good one to choose from.
Marketplaces
The default and, for a first acquisition, the right one. You get volume, comparable pricing and — on the better ones — verification of the numbers before you ever talk to anyone.
Best for: first-timers, and anyone who values a standardised process over a bargain.
Cost: competition. The good listings get multiple offers.
Watch for: whether the metrics are provider-verified or seller-reported. It's the difference between a market and a noticeboard.
Brokers
For deals above roughly $250k, a broker is usually involved. They bring prepared financials and a seller who has already accepted that they're selling — both genuinely valuable.
Best for: larger, cleaner deals where the diligence pack already exists.
Cost: the seller's fee is priced in, and the process moves at the broker's pace.
Watch for: a package designed to answer questions rather than invite them. Ask your own.
Communities and direct outreach
Indie hacker forums, niche Slack and Discord groups, and cold emails to founders of products you already use. Slowest channel, best prices, and by far the highest failure rate.
If you do outreach, the email that works is short, specific and not about you: name the product, say what you'd keep, ask if they'd ever consider it. Nothing about your fund, your thesis or your background.
How much flow you need
That ratio is roughly right at every size. If you've looked at four businesses and you're about to buy one, you don't have a shortlist — you have the only option you found, which is a different thing and prices like one.
Build a filter before you build a pipeline
Decide in advance: price range, category, maximum acceptable support load, and the two or three deal-breakers you won't negotiate on. Then most listings become a five-second decision, and you can actually process forty of them.