The buyer who tells you up front that he wants to buy your company.

I tell every owner up front that I want to buy their company.

Not after two years of working together. Not when the numbers look right. In the first conversation.

In my industry, that counts as a mistake. You build trust, you deliver, you wait for the right moment. Then you make your approach.

That is the polite version of deception.

I do it the other way around. I sell software that grows the owner's revenue. That raises the value of the company. And when the owner wants to sell, I am the buyer.

The owner knows this from minute one.

The objection is obvious: then the owner says no.

Some do. The others get something no one else offers them — a buyer with an interest in making their company worth more before the sale, not less.

What follows:

• Hide your intent to buy, and you will later negotiate against the distrust you created yourself.
• A seller who knows your intent optimizes with you. That is cheaper than any due diligence.
• Openness filters early. The conversations that end after the first sentence would never have worked anyway.
• The best time to talk about the exit is when none is on the table.

Hidden intentions are not a negotiating advantage. They are a bet that the other side will not notice.

What is your counterargument?