These questions help you prepare for the first contact

If you want to take over a business, you usually start thinking about figures, purchase prices and financing very early on. What easily fades into the background is the preparation for the first contact. Yet every succession begins right there.

Business owners do not hand over an object. They hand over responsibility, established structures and often a life's work. That is why it matters so much that they can recognise early on who they are dealing with.

In many conversations, we have seen that buyers feel uncertain: how do I prepare? What matters? What can I expect?

The following thoughts and questions help you prepare for this first contact. Some of them belong in your profile when you present yourself on BIZZqui. Others help you come across clearly in the conversation that follows.

For your profile: how to make yourself visible

Your inner motivation
Why does this type of business interest you in the first place? What appeals to you about the industry, the task, the responsibility? Business owners sense very quickly whether there is genuine interest or whether someone is mainly looking for an opportunity. The more clearly you can articulate your own motivation, the more tangible you become as a person.

Experience and competence
Briefly describe what you have learned and where you feel confident professionally or commercially. You can be self-assured while remaining realistic. Nobody expects you to know everything. What matters is that your experience becomes recognisable.

Showing your path
A brief overview of your professional journey so far helps to place you. It is less about titles or positions than about the thread running through them. What has shaped you? What attitude do you bring?

Being recognisable as a person
Write the way you would present yourself in a face-to-face conversation. Clearly, respectfully, as equals. Authenticity is more powerful than any self-promotion.

For the conversation: what you should have in mind

Being able to work with people
Businesses are made of people. That is why the way you interact with them plays a central role. Have you led teams, taken on responsibility, made decisions? How do you handle conflicts? Listening, respect and reliability count just as much here as formal leadership experience. This part is particularly important because it builds trust.

Showing a sense of reality
Business owners want to see that you understand the reality. How do you assess the market, the customers and the environment? Being grounded is more convincing than grand promises.

Thinking ahead without dismissing what exists
New ideas are welcome, especially when they build on what is already there. Think about what you would like to develop or add, without playing down what exists. Appreciation for what has grown opens conversations.

Taking responsibility for employees seriously
Especially in small and medium-sized businesses, the way you treat existing teams plays a significant role. If you show that people matter to you and that you take responsibility seriously, trust develops.

The first contact

In the BIZZqui app, you create your profile. You briefly describe who you are, what you are looking for and what experience you bring. A few clear sentences are enough to create a first impression.

Business owners see your profile when there is a fit. When the interest is mutual, a chat room opens. To say quickly: there is interest. Let us talk. When suits you?

Then comes the conversation. That is where it shows how you think. How you interact with people. What you bring to the table. And how you engage with what is already there.

Succession works best where people meet before processes begin. A good first contact creates exactly this space. Calm, honest and without pressure.