How to Source Private-Equity Business Deals for Small Investors — A Simple Weekly Sourcing Routine
- Rex Armani
- Sep 12
- 6 min read
By a seasoned investor and dealmaker with practical, no-nonsense advice to stop waiting for “good deals” and start finding them.
Table of Contents
Quick summary: What you’ll get from this post
If you feel like “good deals are rare, where do I even look?” this post gives you a compact, actionable playbook:
The highest-impact channels to find deals (and how to access them).
A simple, weekly routine you can follow even if you’re a solo small investor.
Plug-and-play outreach templates that get responses.
A fast qualifying rubric and tech stack to turn noise into real pipeline.
Read on and you’ll have a repeatable system you can use this week.
Why deal sourcing matters (and why it’s harder for small investors)
Deal sourcing, finding and attracting companies that fit your investment criteria, is the heartbeat of private investing.
Bigger funds often have dedicated BD teams, access to proprietary networks, and subscriptions to expensive data platforms; small investors don’t. That creates two challenges:
Volume: Fewer eyes on the market means fewer opportunities.
Signal-to-noise: The deals you do see are often cold/low quality.
That said, small investors have structural advantages too: agility, speed, and the ability to build direct relationships with owners who prefer a fast, discreet sale. With a focused routine and the right channels, you can tilt the odds in your favor.
Top channels where private-equity investors find companies (and how they work)
Below are the channels that consistently produce investable opportunities. I list them in the order of typical effort → expected hit rate for a small investor.
1. M&A intermediaries & business brokers
These are the classic channel, intermediaries who represent sellers, particularly in the lower-to-middle market. They’re efficient because sellers come to them, but competition is high and processes can be broker-driven.
2. Deal-sourcing platforms and data providers
Platforms like Axial, SourceScrub, PitchBook-style providers and niche scrapers centralize owner/transaction signals. They let you filter by industry, revenue, growth, or distress, so you find relevant targets faster. For many small funds, a focused platform subscription + your outreach beats random cold calling.
3. Proprietary network / referrals (advisors, lawyers, accountants)
High-value but slow: build relationships with CPAs, industry consultants, and ex-founders. Over time, this becomes a stream of “soft-market” opportunities that avoid auction dynamics.
4. Outbound (cold outreach to owners + buyers)
High volume, needs disciplined testing. Use targeted lists and personal messages, not spray-and-pray. Cold outreach can create proprietary deals when done correctly. Grata, SourceScrub and similar firms publish proven templates and playbooks for this.
5. Conferences, trade shows & industry forums
Great for relationship building and short-listing sector winners. Convert warm introductions into follow-ups after the event.
6. Corporate carve-outs, roll-ups & platform plays
If you have domain expertise in an industry, hunting for tuck-ins or carve-outs from larger corporates can yield high-quality targets.
Bottom line: don’t put all your eggs in one channel. Mix one inbound channel (broker/platform) + one outbound channel (targeted outreach) + ongoing network cultivation.
(Major industry guides and platforms confirm that best practices combine networks, intermediaries, and data tools rather than relying on a single source.)
The weekly sourcing routine: A 5-step, repeatable system
Here’s a routine designed for busy small investors. It assumes you will spend ~6–8 hours per week on sourcing (you can scale up or down). Use a consistent weekly cadence so the process compounds.
Weekly blueprint (6–8 hours total)
Monday — Research (1.5–2 hrs)
Pull a fresh target list from your preferred platform (filter for industry, revenue band, ownership type).
Scan news alerts and earnings releases for potential carve-outs or owner-exit signals.
Tuesday — Targeting & list building (1–1.5 hrs)
Clean your list. Add firmographics (revenue, employee count, location).
Prioritize 20 targets this week: 10 “warm” (brokers/referrals) + 10 “cold” (owner outreach).
Wednesday — Outreach day (1.5–2 hrs)
Send personalized emails to owners and brokers (3–4 highly personalized messages, plus 15 scaled but thoughtful emails).
Post one targeted LinkedIn message to a relevant owner or advisor.
Thursday — Follow-ups & calls (1 hr)
Follow up on Monday/Wednesday outreach.
Schedule discovery calls with any respondents.
Friday — Review, pipeline, & skill sharpening (30–60 mins)
Score new leads in CRM. Mark next actions.
Reassess messaging templates and note what opened/responded. Iterate.
Why this works
It balances inbound filtering (platforms/brokers) with proactive outbound work.
Weekly repetition keeps the pipeline fresh and avoids “feast or famine.”
Small, focused weekly actions compound into a robust pipeline over 3–6 months. See best practices on building consistent deal flow.
Outreach templates you can copy (short, effective, and tested)
Below are three short templates: owner cold email, broker intro, and network follow-up. Personalize with one sentence of specific context and a clear next step.
A) Owner cold email (SMB owner)
Subject: Quick question about [Company Name] — buyer interest
Hi [First name],
I’m [Your name], an investor focused on [industry] businesses in the [region]. I’ve followed [Company Name]’s growth (congrats on [specific milestone if known]) and wondered whether you’ve ever considered a partner or sale to accelerate growth or liquidity.
If there’s any interest in exploring options, or just a confidential market check, I’d value 20 minutes for a quick call next week. No pressure either way.
Best,
[Name] | [Phone]
[1-line credibility note, e.g., “Led 3 lower-midmarket deals; clean, quick process”]
(Why this works: short, owner-first, low pressure — similar structures are used across modern deal sourcing playbooks.)
B) Broker outreach (intro + willingness to work exclusively)
Subject: Buyer for [industry] — quick intro
Hi [Broker name],
I’m [Name] of [Firm or solo investor]. We’re actively buying [industry], $2–10m revenue companies in [region]. We move quickly and close with minimal conditions.
Happy to share track record and a buyer profile if you have sellers that fit. Can we grab 15 minutes next week to introduce?
Regards,
[Name] | [Phone]
C) Referral / network follow-up (after a conference or intro)
Hi [Name],
Great meeting at [event]. I enjoyed our chat on [topic]. I’m actively sourcing [industry] businesses and would welcome any intros to owners, accountants, or consultants you know in that space. I’m happy to reciprocate.
Thanks again,
[Name]
Scoring and qualifying leads fast (simple rubric)
You need a fast, repeatable way to triage dozens of leads. Use a 0–10 scoring rubric, with three core bands:
Fit (0–4) — revenue, margin, geography, ownership appetite.
Attractiveness (0–4) — growth trajectory, defensibility, customer concentration.
Process (0–2) — seller motivation, timing, broker involvement.
Example threshold: score ≥7 → schedule discovery call; 5–6 → nurture; ≤4 → deprioritize.
Use the findings from discovery calls to update the score — e.g., if the owner is motivated (divorce, retirement, burnout), raise Process. This quick triage is how you avoid wasting time on low-probability opportunities.
Productivity playbook: tech, CRM, and measurable KPIs
Tech essentials (lean stack)
Deal/Prospect database: A CRM like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or even Airtable for solo investors.
Data provider: One focused platform (Axial/SourceScrub/Grata) to discover targets.
Email sequences: Use a mail merge + sequence tool (Gmail + Mixmax, Lemlist) to automate follow-ups.
Notes & diligence: Google Drive / Notion to keep discovery notes and docs.
KPIs (track weekly)
Targets added
Outreach messages sent
Replies / conversations started
Discovery calls held
Qualified leads (score ≥7)
Track conversion ratios weekly. If open → reply is low, iterate subject lines or first sentences. If replies → calls is low, shorten the qualifying ask.
Real-world examples & mini case study
Mini case study (hypothetical, realistic):
Jane, a solo investor with $5–15m deal target size, focused on specialty food manufacturers. She used a Sourcescrub filter to find firms $3–8m revenue with owner age >55 and single-owner structure.
After 8 weeks of disciplined outreach (60 owner emails + 20 broker intros), she had 6 discovery calls, 2 signed LOIs, and one transaction closed. The secret sauce: targeted filtering + fast response to owner conversations (she could close faster than funds that required lengthy committees). The playbook above mirrors how modern small investors convert targets into proprietary deals.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Spray and pray outreach: Low personalization kills response rates. Fix: Add one genuine sentence about the company.
Chasing shiny tools without a process: Platforms help, but without weekly routine they don’t produce deals. Fix: Commit to the weekly cadence.
Ignoring relationship capital: Don’t undervalue CPAs, attorneys and ex-founders; they bring the best proprietary chances. Fix: Set a monthly “referral cultivation” task.
Failing to track KPIs: You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Fix: Track the five KPIs above.
5 quick takeaways and next steps
Mix channels: One platform + broker relationships + targeted outbound will outperform any single method.
Make sourcing a habit: A 6–8 hour weekly routine compounds into reliable pipeline.
Personalize relentlessly: A one-line personalization increases opens and replies.
Score quickly: Use a 0–10 rubric to triage leads and prioritize discovery calls.
Measure & iterate: Track outreach → replies → calls → qualified leads and improve messaging weekly.
