BUY-SIDE M&A ADVISORY  |  NORTHEAST OHIO

Acquire the right business, including opportunities that are never publicly listed.

FFBA helps buyers find and acquire quality businesses across Northeast Ohio and the greater Great Lakes region through a structured, confidential, off-market search.
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A man in a navy suit is pointing at a tablet while speaking to another man, who is seated across from him, in a professional setting. A glass partition separates them, and a notepad and pen are visible on the table.
THE OPPORTUNITY

The best businesses are often never listed for sale.

Public marketplaces show only a fraction of the businesses that are actually available, and the most attractive companies are frequently sold before they ever appear online. A proactive, off-market search reaches owners directly — often before they've engaged a broker, or even decided whether to sell.

Why the off-market approach wins.

No competitive bidding

Without an auction, you can evaluate and negotiate based on the company's real value, not a price driven up by other buyers.

Higher-quality opportunities

Off-market businesses haven't been shopped and passed over. You assess them on their fundamentals, not their listing history.

Stronger terms and relationships

Owners who know and trust you are more open to seller financing, a flexible transition, and reasonable terms.

How our buyer search works.

01 Define your criteria

Industry, geography, revenue and earnings range, and the characteristics that matter most to you.

02 Identify matching businesses

We research and build a target list using public records, industry data, and our local network.

03 Confidential outreach

We approach owners directly and professionally, on your behalf and in confidence.

04 Qualification

We assess interest, fit, and seriousness before your time is invested in a meeting.

05 Advisory through closing

We guide you through valuation, negotiation, due diligence, and deal structure to a successful close.

The buyers we work with.

Individual acquirers

FFBA was built with you in mind. Serious individual buyers, generally with $500,000 or more in financing capacity, have rarely had access to the kind of proactive, off-market search that institutional investors run in-house. We bring that same caliber of research and direct outreach to your search.

Independent sponsors & search funds

Capital in hand and a mandate to find off-market deal flow.

Strategic & industry buyers

Companies growing by acquisition and looking for the right fit.

Family offices & investors

Patient capital seeking quality over quantity.

A partnership aligned with your goals.

Your investment funds the search itself — the outreach that finds the right owners. FFBA is compensated when a transaction closes, so our interests are aligned with your success from the very start.

A strong market for acquisition in Northeast Ohio.

Ohio's industrial, service, and trade sectors are home to a large number of privately held businesses with strong cash flow and loyal customers — many owned by a generation now approaching retirement. Most will never be publicly listed. For prepared buyers, the opportunity is significant.

YOUR ADVISOR

BEN CALKINS

Founding Partner
“In forty years, I've watched a lot of buyers wait for the right business to appear on a listing site. The ones who found it went looking instead.”
— Ben Calkins, Founding Partner
Ben Calkins has advised on hundreds of M&A transactions across the Great Lakes region over four decades. He leads every FFBA engagement personally, from first conversation through closing.
40+ years of Ohio M&A practice · AV Preeminent (Martindale-Hubbell) · Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award · Super Lawyer (multiple years) · Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award · Co-founder, Center for Free Enterprise · Co-founder, North Coast Angel Fund · Former President, Ohio Venture Association

Frequently Asked Questions

How quickly can I reach off-market owners?

Identification begins within weeks of defining your criteria, and outreach follows immediately. Time to a first serious conversation depends on how specific your criteria are and how active owners are in your target sectors.

Do I need M&A experience?

No. The advisory relationship fills the transaction-specific gaps — from first outreach through diligence and closing. You bring the business judgment; we bring the process.

What if I'm not finding the right businesses on the listing sites?

That's the entire reason this approach exists. The listings represent the businesses owners chose to post, at prices brokers hoped the market would bear. The ones you actually want — stable, fairly valued, run by an owner who's motivated but not desperate — are rarely there.

READY TO MOVE FORWARD?

Start your search with a conversation.

If you're ready to acquire a business, the first step is a confidential, no-obligation conversation.

Ben Calkins

Fast Forward Business Advisors
M&A Advisory — Northeast Ohio
440-595-4300
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