Official company sites
Locations, services, leadership statements and published contact routes. Useful starting observations—not verified revenue or seller intent.
Pair with aggregate context ↗Build Own Sell · Search Desk
The source is part
of the answer.
Use each source for what it can actually establish. Keep public discovery, licensed data, private diligence and owner permission distinct.
Census CBP / ACS
Geography and industry structure, establishment counts and demographic context. Track release year and suppressed values. The CBP API now requires a key; no live keyless connector is claimed.
CBP documentation ↗BLS QCEW
Employment and wage context by industry/geography. It is not a private business P&L or a complete consumer-demand model.
QCEW ↗SEC EDGAR
Public-company filings and acquisition disclosures. Separate cash consideration, contingent payments and retention compensation.
EDGAR ↗Marketplaces and brokers
Mandated listings and seller-supplied documents under their own access rules. Asking prices are not closing prices.
BizBuySell ↗Private-market data vendors
Licensed company discovery and intelligence. Evaluate geographic coverage, provenance, permission and refresh—not just database size.
Datasite acquisition announcement ↗Banker / CFO / advisor network
Develop a clear mandate and earn permissioned introductions. Never ask for confidential borrower information or infer private distress.
Industry associations / events
Learn operating vocabulary, ask narrow questions and earn relevant relationships. Membership or a directory entry is not endorsement.
Founder referrals and succession
An owner-controlled readiness tool can start an honest discussion before a formal sale. Never share private inputs without explicit permission.
Direct mail / researched email
Use a real identity, specific reason, accurate claim and a clear way to decline. No bought list automatically becomes newsletter consent.
FTC guidance ↗Keep three lists, not one
Research universe: sourced businesses worth understanding. Relationship queue: businesses or intermediaries with a lawful, reviewed contact path. Available opportunities: owner-authorized listings or conversations. Promotion between them requires evidence and permission, not a model’s confidence score.
Start a criteria-led screen ↗