It’s no secret that the right events can serve as catalysts and connection points to the partners you’ve been looking for to help you acquire your next business.
While there are a LOT of great events you could attend, here’s our favorite events that are specifically beneficial for self-funded searchers:
- SMB Bash – April 2-4 – Dallas, TX -> This 3-day event is a deep dive into searching, funding, and operating business acquisitions. It’s well worth the time as your ability to network within the search community is fantastic at this conference. Being an entrepreneur – especially through acquisition – can be challenging on the best of days and close to a nightmare on the worst. Not everybody understands this lifestyle – but the attendees at this conference do. There’s a good mix of “we’re in the same boat” and “been there, done that – let me help you” folks from all over the country.
- M&A Launchpad – May 3 – Houston, TX -> This fast-paced day long conference is like drinking from a firehose with all of the quality information shared. The keynote speakers are always subject matter experts (Walker Deibel, Roman Basi, and Jess Bailey are some of the amazing past speakers) and there are two tracks set up – one for searchers who want to be owner/operators and one for searchers who are more interested in the investment side.
Bonus: This event happens twice per year! The speakers change a bit depending on location but if you aren’t able to make it to Houston in May, you’ll have another chance to attend in October. The location for the October 2025 event has not yet been announced but we’ll keep you posted! - NAWBO Conference – June 4-8 – Washington D.C. -> This one is not specifically M&A focused, but it IS one of the best places to meet other female business owner/operators. This is a great opportunity to expand your network, connect with a large intermediary network, and start building life-changing relationships with other women who “get it”.
- Optimize Our WAEEÂ – Nov 7-9 – Houston, TX -> This is not your typical “conference”. The goal with this event is to help move your business forward by connecting with the other attendees, learning through play, and discovering the power of active rest. We will be optimizing our search processes together and leveraging the momentum of the group to move forward exponentially (even though it’ll feel like a vacation).
Please Note – this event is currently only open to Founding Members and Founding Sponsors at a once-in-a-lifetime rate.
This is a limited availability offer that will be going live for Black Friday (but you may be able to sneak in ahead of time if you come to the Tuesday Coffee Chats )
None of these links are affiliate links. While the last one is ours, the rest are other events that we believe would be beneficial for you to attend as a self-funded searcher.
Ultimately, what you get out of each of these events is up to you. They all have the potential to connect you with at least one person or opportunity or resource that could dramatically change your life for the better.