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You know, today I had originally scheduled um to answer a question I get around what is something that buyers want to know that owners haven't thought of yet. Or or there's different variations of that question. But the reality is I I want to actually flip that because I think we're at a point in the market in which the saturation of buyers far exceeds the inventory or the listings that are available. So sellers really outweigh buyers, and so there's some negotiation aspects in that. Now, obviously, one of the things that I have to mentally get over, so when I say that, I want to be very cautious because there is a knee-jerk reaction, and I've said this before, that a seller, once they get an offer, all of a sudden can has a tendency to turn into a monster. They all of a sudden have this arrogance that kills the deal time and time again. I don't know what it is, I don't know what psychologically happens, but it's almost like sellers get angry when they get an offer. And even if it's what they're asking, and so I try to preface my conversations with sellers, like, hey, have that in mind. So when I say the that sellers outweigh the buyer uh dilemmas in the United States or opportunities, I don't want to add to the I don't want to say arrogance, but the insinuated uh demeaning behavior that can come up at the closing table or right before the closing table. So remain humble and be strategic, but also have a humble attitude throughout the process. It's the best way to get the best deals. And just be aware that that's a tendency. So I say all that, all that to be said, all that said, whatever the same is. Um I actually want to flip it and say what are things that the sellers want that buyers are unaware of. We get bombarded with buyers that have cash. They want to buy a business, it's either an investment group or it's a buyer in the same industry and they're looking for this. There is no shortage of people that want to buy businesses at all. And so I think what would be helpful today is for you as a buyer, what are some things that you can be thinking about when working with a seller? So, off the top of my head, I'm gonna go through one. I just had a conversation today with a seller who has a hard line in the sand regarding who the buyer is. They don't want to be bought by an investment group. They haven't put in all this work in their local area only to be bought out by an investment group that closes the company, which they've seen time and time again, and they're in northern Michigan, and there just aren't a lot of companies that can be that can be acquired and then closed. They they need the service providers. And so she is adamantly clear that that is a breaking point. And so one thing that uh if you're a seller like that, you need to have on your side is to have a broker who's willing to walk away from any deal. Obviously, assuming that they also have the capabilities to keep you in the reins, that just because you can say no doesn't mean you should always say no. Obviously, they can't force you to make a decision that you don't want to make, but they should be able to also talk you into reason like, hey, this is probably the best deal you're gonna get. We can say no. It's if fits 95% of your criteria. I want you to be aware of, and I've had to say this. If you walk away from this deal, I have to now, I'm going to have to close out my broker agreement with you. And that's only because I know I now know the likelihood of that deal completing has drastically decreased because now it's gonna be on the market a lot longer. And if they weren't willing to negotiate that 5% at the best asking price I know that they're gonna get, there is no way they're gonna be able, they're gonna want to negotiate any further down. And now that we take it back to the market, I I'm gonna be spinning my wheels for something I'll never get paid on. Now, for you, I want to switch back now. If you are a buyer, and I've had several of them, I I probably have five buyers, independent individual buyers that reach out to me every week. And then I have I I can't even tell you 12 maybe emails of private investment groups or venture capital groups that are looking to acquire businesses. And can we get on your list? I want to, I want, particularly those of you who are the independent buyers. Um, there are some things that the seller there, there's gonna be sellers that just want to exit for money. So there's not a whole lot that you need to know there. But the reality is a lot of the sellers that we get have built lifetime businesses and they're getting ready to exit because they're getting ready to retire. But they care deeply about this business. Those are the people I love to work with, those are the businesses we're often representing. And so for you, there's a couple things that need to be in the criteria. Those of you that contact brokers and you're looking to buy generic businesses, I just want you to keep in mind, in light of the fact that we have potentially what's looking to be the big biggest wealth transfer in American history, with over 60% of Middle America businesses owned by people who are 55 and older, they're going to be transitioning and they have built this business with blood, sweat, and tears. They have gone through the heartache, the difficulties, the war wounds that are done in secret to build a company to be successful, to support families they care about. And if you come in as a genericist or a generic buyer with no background in the industry, that's gonna be problematic. So it unless you're look unless you're looking to buy a company where they only care about the exit, just give us the money, those are gonna be low quality opportunities. There's probably not gonna be a great culture where people felt cared about. So there's a vulnerability aspect of what happens post-acquisition. But if you have any background, so if you're just kind of throwing and you're saying, hey, I've got, you know, however you got it, you got a million dollars or a half a million dollars or$250,000 to invest, and you're willing to get an SBA loan and you you're pre-qualified. I would start, in all honesty, with where your background is, where you have some experience in. And then I would be very specific there to say, hey, I'm open to other industries, but this is what I have background in. Because those are going to be your highest probability and conversions when it comes to talking to these owners who, whether you like it or not, are not just cared about how much money you have. They want to know that the people that they've hired, the families that have been supported by their business, are taking care of post-acquisition. They're far more concerned about that than they are about your check. And so the only reason you can bridge that gap, logically, is that you need to have some touch point in that industry. And so if even if it's a correlated industry that you have connections with or something like that, so I would encourage you, if you're reaching out to me or other brokers, I would say just know we're being bombarded by people that are wanting to buy any business. And we don't, you know, I don't have I don't have time, to be frank, to just go back through my my Rolodex of people that have called or reached out and go, you know, and this isn't to say that you're not important, but if there's no specificity in what you're looking for, and and that could that primarily should start with industry, secondarily, it should start with geography, then it's just in such a bulk category that if I find an industry that might have been a good fit for you, I'm not thinking of you because you were too generic in what you were looking for. So even if, again, if you you say what I'm looking for, I have some background in engineering, so I'd like a manufacturing company, particular in the automotive industry, and I'd like it to be Southeast Michigan, that's great. And then you could say, with that said, though, I am open up to the following industries, maybe label three or four other industries. That gives me some recollection when I'm talking to sellers and going, oh, I remember John. John said he could, you know, he was interested in that industry. So if you're a seller, I would I would say start there. Also, again, understanding that it's the value of what you bring to the table for the legacy of their company that far exceeds the value of your checkbook. Finding sellers for them, again, especially in the service-based business realm, finding, I'm sorry, finding buyers for them is not the challenge. Finding the right buyers is so if you can understand that, if you I'm assuming if you do research into any, you know, any lead that you might get, one thing that's going to differentiate you, and I know this is odd because you're the buyer, but in reality, we're at a marketplace now where the seller is the buyer. They're deciding do they want you to be the one to purchase their business? Dan Sullivan wrote a book years ago called Always Be the Buyer. And that's the reality where we're at. They're thinking through is this the person I want to spend the next several months working through to transition them into owner, ownering, owning our legacy. So again, going back, do some research, look at when they were founded, find out some backgrounds, you know, about the owners, where they live, how in how involved have they been, what things have they sponsored? Maybe maybe they sponsored little league teams. Um, you could mention that. Hey, I who's my contact for the the little league team sponsorship? I saw that you guys did that every year for the past 30 years, and I want to make sure that that continues. And talk to me a little bit about these employees. Who's the key one? Who's been here the longest? It comes down to people. It's not so much about the transaction. Now tell me about the customers. You know, who's your typical customer? Who are the ones that you know you you are most concerned about, you know, and in terms of making sure that you can help? And when, you know, when are the when are the tough seasons for your customers? And what are the challenges that they have? And how could I help that even be better? Where do you see the opportunities of of us serving in the community better helped by adding maybe a different service or more employees, etc. etc. So as a buyer, I want you to be aware that in some sense you've been commoditized because there are so many buyers. And how to differentiate yourself. I'm trying to help help us out when it comes to all of us getting to the closing table. How you can help differentiate yourself is getting into the people element of the business and just psychologically diving more into that and some of the questions that you're asking outside of the monetary components of the acquisition. So that's all I got for today. Today's main focus was for you as a buyer of a business, investment group, you know, whoever is looking to acquire businesses. These are the challenges that we're seeing, and I hope that helps you get over some of those challenges. That's all I have for today, and take care.