Work With Us

Why DIY deal sourcing is a trap and how the smartest buyers are playing a completely different game

Let me tell you a story you probably recognize.

January 2025. New year, new you. You set a goal: "This is the year I acquire a business."

You were fired up. You told your spouse. You blocked time on your calendar. You even started making a list of industries you wanted to target.

Then life happened.

February became March.

March became June.

June became September.

You sent some cold emails. You scrolled BizBuySell. You talked to a few brokers.

Nothing stuck.

And now it's January 2026.

Different year. Same position. Same goal.

Here's what I know about you: You're not lazy. You're not incapable. You're not unqualified.

You're just playing a game you can't win.

The Game You Can't Win

Here's the truth most people don't want to hear:

Deal sourcing isn't a "hustle harder" problem. It's a mechanism problem.

You could work 80 hours a week sending cold emails and still lose to someone who has better access, better information, and a team doing it for them.

Let me show you what the DIY path actually looks like:

Month 1-3: The Honeymoon Phase

You're excited. You're motivated. You're sending 50 emails a day. You're calling brokers. You're on every marketplace.

You get a few responses. Most are tire-kickers, overpriced garbage, or sellers who ghost you after the first call.

But you stay optimistic. "It's a numbers game," you tell yourself.

Month 4-6: The Grind Sets In

You're now spending 15-20 hours per week on deal sourcing. That's on top of your full-time job.

You've sent hundreds of emails. You've looked at dozens of deals. Nothing fits.

The few decent opportunities you find? They already have 3-5 other buyers circling. By the time you get your LOI together, someone else has already closed.

You're exhausted. But you keep grinding.

Month 7-12: The Breaking Point

You've now spent 300+ hours on this. At a conservative $100/hour, that's $30,000 of your time.

But it's not just the time. It's the mental load. The constant rejection. The deals that look good on paper but fall apart in diligence.

You start to wonder: "Is this even possible?"

Here's where it gets worse.

Month 13-18: The Crossroads

At this point, 87% of people quit entirely. They're burned out, frustrated, and convinced it's not worth it.

The other 13%? They finally close a deal. But here's what nobody tells you: Most of them overpay for mediocre businesses because they're desperate to "just get something done."

They settle.

And here's why: By the time a deal hits your inbox, it's already been passed on by dozens of other buyers who have better information than you.

The best deals never make it to marketplaces. They're sold before you even know they exist.

You're not competing on a level playing field. You're competing with one hand tied behind your back.

Let Me Show You The Real Cost

Most people think about the time cost. "Yeah, I spent 300 hours. That sucks."

But that's not even close to the real cost.

Time Cost: $30,000

300+ hours at $100/hour. That's time you could have spent earning money, building your current business, or with your family.

Opportunity Cost: $1,000,000+

Let's say you're targeting a business that does $1M in EBITDA. That business generates $83,333 per month in cash flow.

If it takes you 18 months to find and close a deal instead of 6 months, you just lost 12 months of ownership.

That's $1,000,000 in cash flow. Gone.

Not to mention the equity appreciation during that time. Not to mention the strategic moves you could have made to grow the business faster.

Quality Cost: Impossible to Measure

When you're sourcing deals yourself, you only see what everyone else has already seen and passed on.

You're bidding on the leftovers. The diamonds are already claimed.

So even if you do close a deal, you probably overpaid or bought something with hidden problems.

The math is brutal: Spend $30,000 in time, lose $1,000,000 in opportunity cost, and still have less than a 15% chance of success.

Or...

How The Winners Play The Game

Here's what most people don't realize:

• Private equity firms don't source their own deals.

• Family offices don't source their own deals.

• Multi-billion dollar funds don't source their own deals.

Why?

Because deal sourcing is a full-time job. And their time is worth more than that.

They hire entire teams whose only job is to find deals, qualify sellers, vet opportunities, and bring them the best options.

They don't waste time on garbage deals. They don't compete with 50 other buyers for the same listing. They don't miss opportunities because they were too slow.

They have unfair advantages:

→ Better access

→ Better information

→ Better speed

And if you want to win in 2026, you need to start playing the same game they're playing.

Before I Tell You How... Thank You

I need to pause and say something important.

Thank you for being part of the Acquire Weekly community.

Seriously. We don't take it for granted that you open these emails, engage with our content, and trust us to help you on your acquisition journey.

We appreciate you. We really do.

And because we care about your success, I'm going to be completely honest with you:

If you keep doing what you've been doing, January 2027 will feel exactly like January 2025.

Same goal. Same frustration. Same position.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

The Unfair Advantage: Continental

Here's what we built.

Continental is your done-FOR-you deal sourcing team. Not a course. Not a mastermind. Not a database you have to search through.

We become your dedicated acquisitions team.

We find deals. We qualify sellers. We vet opportunities. We bring you the best options that match your exact criteria.

You review. You decide. You close.

This is the exact same service we provide to private equity groups, fund groups, and family offices—except we're opening it to individual buyers who are serious about acquiring in 2026.

Here's What You Get:

#1 Personalized Deal Sourcing From Our Exclusive Deal Flow

We don't spam you with every deal we see. We hand-pick opportunities that match YOUR specific criteria. Your buy-box. Your goals. Your timeline.

No noise. Only signal.

#2 Dedicated Team Support (You Work Directly With Our Co-Founders)

You're not working with a VA. Not an assistant. Not some junior analyst.

You're working with us. The people who built this company. The people who source deals for PE firms with hundreds of millions under management.

We're personally involved in every single Continental member's acquisition.

#3 Exclusive Slack Community of Serious Buyers

Get direct access to other Continental members who are actively closing deals right now.

Real conversations. Real advice. Real accountability. No fluff.

#4 Access To 1000+ Off-Market Deals

These deals never hit BizBuySell. They're never listed publicly. They're never shopped to 50 other buyers.

You see them first. Before anyone else.

#5 Custom Deal Sourcing via Direct Outreach

We don't just show you what's available.

We actively go find deals FOR you. We reach out to sellers on your behalf. We open doors that would stay closed if you tried to knock yourself.

#6 Priority Access to Our Best Deal Flow

When we find an absolute gem, Continental members get first look.

Everyone else gets the leftovers.

The Investment: $10,000 (One Time, Forever)

One payment. That's it.

No monthly fees. No upsells. No hidden costs.

And here's what makes this different from literally everything else out there:

We work with you until you close a deal.

It could take 6 months. It could take 12 months. Could be 18.

We don't care. We're not done until you win.

Most programs charge you monthly and secretly hope you quit so they don't have to actually help you.

We charge you once and won't stop working until you're a business owner.

Why would we structure it this way?

Because we only take on a limited number of Continental members. We're personally involved in every acquisition. We can't scale this to thousands of people.

This isn't a scalable business model for us.

But it's an unfair advantage for you.

Who This Is For (And Who It's Not For)

Let me be direct: Continental isn't for everyone.

This is for you if:

✓ You're ready to acquire in 2026, not "someday," not "when the timing is right," but THIS YEAR

✓ You're targeting businesses doing $500K+ in EBITDA or $5M+ asking price

✓ You want to build a portfolio or execute roll-ups with precision and privacy

✓ You understand that speed and access beat effort and hustle

✓ You're willing to work 10X harder in 2026 than you did in 2025

✓ You're coachable and ready to move fast when we bring you the right opportunity

This is NOT for you if:

✗ You're just exploring or "seeing what's out there"

✗ You want to do everything yourself because you don't trust others

✗ You're not willing to invest in infrastructure that compounds your results

If you're in the first group, keep reading.

If you're in the second group, that's totally fine—we're just not the right fit.

For Institutions: White-Label Deal Sourcing

If you're a private equity group, fund, or family office, we offer a completely different tier.

White-label deal sourcing where:

• You keep all data under your domain, not ours

• We work completely behind the scenes

• You get the credit and control the relationships

• We handle sourcing, vetting, and initial outreach

• Total privacy. Total precision.

This is for groups executing roll-ups or building portfolios who need systematic, high-volume deal flow.

What Happens Next

For Individual Buyers:

If you're ready to start right now, upgrade to Continental immediately and get instant access to our deal flow:

UPGRADE TO CONTINENTAL NOW →

For PE Groups, Funds, and Family Offices:

If you need white-label deal sourcing customized to your specific acquisition strategy, schedule a call with us:

SCHEDULE A CALL - INSTITUTIONS →

We'll walk you through our entire process, show you exactly how we work, and make sure this is the right fit.

No pressure. No games. Just an honest conversation about whether we can help you close faster.

The Choice Is Yours

Here's where you are right now:

Option 1:

You can spend 2026 doing the same thing you did in 2025.

Sending cold emails. Scrolling marketplaces. Competing for deals that 47 other buyers have already seen. Spending 300+ hours of your life. Burning $30,000 in opportunity cost. Losing $1,000,000+ in cash flow because you're 12 months slower than you need to be.

And in January 2027, you'll be right back here. Reading another email like this. Setting the same goal for the third year in a row.

Option 2:

You can do something different.

You can invest $10,000 and get the same unfair advantages that PE firms and family offices have.

You can see deals before anyone else. You can move faster. You can have a dedicated team working for you instead of grinding alone.

And by Q3 2026, you could be a business owner.

Not "exploring opportunities." Not "in the search process."

An actual owner of a cash-flowing business.

The goal you set 12 months ago and didn't achieve, can become your reality this year.

But only if you change the mechanism.

Let's make 2026 different.

See you inside,

Jorge Viveros & Rahul Issar

Co-Founders, Acquire Weekly

P.S. - We're only taking on a small number of Continental members this quarter because we work with everyone personally. We can't scale this. If you're reading this and thinking "I'll decide later," you need to know: Later might be too late. The people who win are the ones who move when the opportunity is in front of them. The people who wait are the ones still searching next January. Don't let that be you. Click here now.