Most conversations about acquisition start in the wrong place. The question most businesses ask first is: what is available? The question they should be asking is: are we ready to acquire?
A lot of buy-side activity starts with an opportunity rather than a strategy. A business comes to market, conversations begin, interest builds. That is understandable as genuinely good businesses do not come up regularly. But starting with the deal creates a specific problem. Instead of asking 'is this what we were looking for?', you end up asking 'could this work for us?' That shift in framing changes everything.
Five areas to work through before looking at a single target
Clarity of strategy — a specific view of what a good target looks like, what it needs to add, and what success looks like three years after completion.
Financial readiness — a clear understanding of how a deal could be funded and the impact on cash flow and working capital. Engage lenders early, before a target is identified. That conversation is far more productive before time pressure builds.
Deal discipline — what would make you walk away? Having clear criteria before you start protects you from the creeping commitment that builds once you are deep in a process.
Leadership capacity — who runs the existing business during the process, and who runs the acquired business on day one? Not questions to answer on the morning of completion.
Integration plan — integration does not start after completion. The businesses that integrate well arrive at completion with a clear plan already in place.