How to find new businesses to sell to
A business that opened last month has no accountant, web designer, insurer or IT company it is loyal to yet. It is buying now. The trick is to find it while it is still new, and in most countries every new business leaves a public trail you can follow.
Why new businesses are good leads
- They are setting up, so they need many things at once: a website, bookkeeping, insurance, equipment, software, marketing.
- They have not picked long-term suppliers yet, so you are not asking them to switch.
- Owners still read their own email and answer their own phone.
Where new businesses appear in public records
Most countries keep a public register of companies, and many industries have their own registers too. A few examples:
- United Kingdom: Companies House lists every new company with its directors, free to search.
- United States: each state's business registry records new companies, and some industries have national registers, such as the NPI Registry for healthcare providers and USDOT numbers for trucking companies.
- Canada: the federal and provincial corporate registries.
- Australia: ASIC's company register and ABN Lookup.
- European Union: each country runs a business register, and many can be searched from the EU's e-Justice portal.
- India: company data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
- Everywhere: new business licences, trade association member lists, business loan and grant announcements, and local business news.
How to pick the ones worth contacting
- Fit first: the industries and places you can really serve. "Dental practices in one region" is a clearer target than "all new businesses".
- A way to reach them: a website, a published email or a phone number. A registration with no contact details is a lot of work for one lead.
- Fresh: registered in the last one to three months. After that, someone else has usually sold to them.
- One more sign of life, such as a loan, a website that just went live or a first job post.
What to say
Keep it short and about them. Mention that they have just opened, say in one line what you do for businesses like theirs, and ask one easy question. Do not attach a brochure or a price list to a first message.
Write in their working hours, in their time zone, and follow up a few times if they do not answer. Many new owners are simply busy, not uninterested.
Do it in FarLeads
- FarLeads tracks new businesses in the United States today, and you can use it from anywhere.
- Open Leads, pick an industry and a state, and choose Registered in the last 30 days.
- Tick Must have: Phone or Email, press Score all matches and sort by Best fit: each business gets a fit score against your ideal client, with the reason.
- Mark the ones you like as Saved, and press Write outreach for a first message written for that business.