Five steps, in order, every time. No step gets skipped to hit a quota — if a lead fails a check, it doesn't ship.
We start from a real, dated event — an owner's retirement, a founder's passing with no clear successor, a distress indicator, a lease expiration, or a confirmed growth event like new equipment financing or a second location. "The owner has run it a long time" is not a signal on its own; we need something dated and sourced.
We confirm the business tied to the signal is still operating, still privately held, and matches your target sector and revenue range — not a subsidiary of a larger company, not already listed on a marketplace, not already closed.
State corporate registries, professional licensing boards, BBB and review platforms, and local filings all get checked. If a licensed trade business shows an expired license, or a family member already holds an ownership title, the lead gets disqualified — not softened.
We identify the actual person to speak with and verify the email or phone number against deliverability and ownership data before it's included. A lead with a documented signal but no reachable contact stays in our backlog — it doesn't get sent to you as-is.
Every delivered lead includes the signal, its source, the sector and estimated scale, and the verified contact — so you can qualify it in minutes, not hours.
A shaky lead costs you more time than no lead at all — so these are hard stops, not judgment calls.
A son, daughter, or partner already holds an ownership or executive title — the exit signal has already resolved.
If it's already listed on a public marketplace, it's not off-market anymore — you don't need us for that.
Confirmed closures and businesses already absorbed by a larger company are dropped immediately.
Real signal, no reachable person — it stays in our research backlog until a contact surfaces.
Tell us your sector, radius, and deal size — we'll send back a sample brief built the same way.
Request a Sample Lead