Define Your Acquisition Criteria 

AI is only as useful as the instructions you provide. Start by identifying what matters most in an acquisition, such as: 

• Industry or business type 
• Geography
• Revenue
• EBITDA, SDE, or cash flow 
• Asking price 
• Number of employees 
• Recurring revenue 
• Customer concentration 
• Owner involvement 
• Real estate requirements 
• Industries or characteristics to exclude 

Don’t have your criteria figured out yet? AI can help with that, too. 

Prompt: Help Me Define My Acquisition Criteria

I am interested in acquiring a business, but I need help defining my acquisition criteria. Ask me one question at a time about my experience, preferred industries, geography, available capital, financing plans, desired company size, income goals, preferred level of owner involvement, risk tolerance, timeline, and any industries or business characteristics I want to avoid.

After I answer, create a concise acquisition criteria profile that I can use to search for businesses and communicate with business brokers and M&A advisors.

Create a Recurring Business-for-Sale Search 

Once you know what you’re looking for, you can ask AI to regularly search for opportunities on your behalf. 

ChatGPT supports scheduled tasks that can run in the background, although availability and limits depend on your plan and workspace settings.  

Claude also supports recurring tasks through Claude Cowork on eligible paid plans.  

These features change frequently, so setup and availability may vary.

Prompt: Find Businesses for Sale Matching My Criteria

Create a recurring task that runs every [Monday at 8:00 a.m.] and searches for businesses for sale matching these criteria: 

• Industries: [industries]
• Geography: [states, cities, regions, or nationwide] 
• Annual revenue: [range] 
• EBITDA, cash flow, or SDE: [range]
• Maximum asking price: [amount]
• Required characteristics: [recurring revenue, B2B customers, management team, etc.]
• Exclude: [industries or characteristics] 

Search publicly accessible business-for-sale listings and M&A advisor websites, including Calder Capital, BizBuySell, BizQuest, BusinessesForSale.com, Axial when publicly accessible, and other relevant broker and M&A advisory websites. 

Only include opportunities that reasonably fit my criteria. Remove duplicates and opportunities previously reported unless something material has changed. 

For each match, provide: 

1. Business or listing title 
2. Location 
3. Industry 
4. Revenue 
5. EBITDA, cash flow, or SDE 
6. Asking price, if available 
7. Why it may fit 
8. Potential concerns or missing information 
9. Link to the original listing
10. Date found 

Rank each opportunity as Strong, Possible, or Weak. If there are no credible new matches, tell me rather than including marginal results. 

Business Owners Can Monitor Calder’s Engaged Buyers 

Business owners considering a sale can use AI to monitor Calder Capital’s Engaged Buyers page. 

These buyers have engaged Calder Capital to identify acquisition targets based on specific industry, geographic, and financial criteria. 

Prompt: Tell Me When Calder Adds a Buyer That May Fit My Business

Every [Monday at 9:00 a.m.], review Calder Capital’s Engaged Buyers page: 

https://www.caldergr.com/businesses-for-sale/engaged-buyers/

Notify me when Calder adds a newly engaged buyer whose acquisition criteria may match my company. 

My company profile is: 

• Industry: [industry]
• Headquarters: [city and state] 
• Service area: [geography]
• Annual revenue: [amount or range]
• EBITDA: [amount or range]
• Business model: [brief description]
• Other relevant characteristics: [details] 

Compare the page with prior results and only notify me about new buyers or material changes to existing criteria. 

For each potential match, provide the buyer’s stated industry, geography, revenue criteria, why my business may fit, any apparent mismatch, and a direct link to the buyer profile. 

Do not share my company information or contact anyone on my behalf. 

Use AI to Score Opportunities, Not Make the Decision

Finding a listing is only the beginning. Public listings are often incomplete and designed primarily to market the opportunity.

AI can help organize the available information and identify questions worth asking, but it shouldn’t make the acquisition decision for you.

Prompt: Create an Initial Opportunity Scorecard 

Evaluate this business opportunity against my acquisition criteria. Do not assume that unreported information is favorable. 

Create a scorecard covering: 

• Industry fit 
• Geographic fit
• Company size
• Apparent earnings quality
• Recurring revenue
• Customer concentration
• Owner dependence
• Management depth
• Capital expenditure requirements
• Growth potential
• Major risks
• Missing information 

Rate each category as Strong, Acceptable, Concerning, or Unknown. Then provide the 3-5 most important questions I should ask before deciding whether to pursue the opportunity. 

Important: Never upload confidential business information, CIMs, financial records, NDAs, or personally identifying information unless you understand the platform’s data practices and are authorized to do so. 

Understand the Limitations

AI can make acquisition research easier, but it cannot guarantee a complete or accurate search. 

It may miss new or poorly indexed listings, be unable to access gated websites, encounter outdated information, misinterpret financial data, or return duplicate or imperfect matches. 

Always verify information at the original source. 

AI-generated research should be treated as a research aid, not due diligence, a valuation, legal advice, or investment advice. 

Listed Businesses Are Only Part of the Market

AI can make it much easier to monitor the businesses publicly advertised for sale. But the visible market is only part of the opportunity set. 

Many attractive businesses are never broadly marketed. 

Calder Capital’s buy-side team primarily identifies unlisted companies and privately approaches owners whose businesses may match a client’s acquisition criteria. Our services can include target sourcing, owner outreach, opportunity vetting, introductions, LOI negotiations, deal structuring, financing coordination, due diligence support, and closing coordination. 

AI can help you monitor the visible market. A dedicated buy-side M&A advisor can help you reach opportunities that aren’t being marketed to every other buyer. 

Learn more about Calder Capital’s Buy-Side Advisory services here.  

Founded in 2013, Calder Capital is a cross-industry mergers and acquisitions advisory firm with offices across the United States. Calder provides valuation, sell-side, and buy-side services. We are nationally recognized for excellence in advising $1-100M enterprise value transactions in manufacturing, construction, distribution, and business services. Calder serves business owners, entrepreneurs, family offices, financial buyers, and investors. Learn more at www.CalderGR.com.

Notice: Calder Capital, LLC is not affiliated with any similarly named organizations or entities. To verify communications from our firm, visit our website or contact [email protected].