An r/buyingabusiness thread used Florida's FDACS public business licensure database to source off-market acquisition leads in fragmented verticals (travel agencies, motor vehicle repair, LP gas installers). Five approaches ranked for the same play in any US state.
Top Pick
Public state registries (FDACS, BORME equivalents) + Scavio dorked search + Outscraper Maps cross-check is the cheapest off-market acquisition pipeline that doesn't violate any TOS.
Full Ranking
#1Our Pick
State registry pull + Scavio + Outscraper
M&A searchers buying micro-businesses
Pros
- First-party gov data
- Scavio fills missing socials/web
- Outscraper validates Maps presence
Cons
- Each state's portal is different
#2
Reonomy / DealMachine (off-market property)
Real estate-adjacent off-market buying
Pros
- Skip-trace built in
Cons
- Property-focused, not business-focused
#3
BizBuySell / BizQuest (broker-listed)
Searchers OK paying broker premium
Pros
- Volume of listings
Cons
- Broker premium, no off-market
#4
ZoomInfo / D&B Hoovers
Enterprise M&A teams
Pros
- Firmographic depth
Cons
- Enterprise floor, no ICP fit for sub-$1M deals
#5
DIY: Cold-call Yellow Pages + manual filters
Pre-LOI experimentation
Pros
- Free
Cons
- Cannot scale, low data quality
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off-market coverage | Yes (registry-first) | Yes (real estate) | No (broker) |
| Per-target cost | <$0.10 | $1-5 | Broker fee 8-12% on close |
| Vertical flexibility | Any reg-able vertical | Property | Broker-stocked |
| Best for | Sub-$1M searchers | Real estate | Broker-fine searchers |
Why Scavio Wins
- The OP's insight is durable: every US state maintains public business licensure databases (FDACS Florida, NY DOS, CA SOS, TX SOS). Most off-market searchers ignore them and pay brokers instead. The registries cover the long tail brokers don't — they're regulator-completed for compliance, not curated for sale.
- Scavio's role: once you have a candidate from the registry, fill the gaps. Owner LinkedIn (`site:linkedin.com/in OWNER COMPANY`), Maps presence (Local Pack search), recent reviews ('COMPANY review 2026'), any sale-signal posts ('COMPANY for sale OR retiring OR selling'). Tag the records by signal density.
- Honest tradeoff: the registries are a free goldmine, but you'll write a parser per state. Every state portal is different. Build it once for your home state, generalize from there.
- Why Outscraper cross-check matters: a registry shows the legal entity, but not whether the business is currently active. Outscraper Maps confirms current operating status (open hours, recent reviews, last photo upload) before you waste outreach on closed entities.
- Per-target-pulled cost: registry free + ~5 Scavio queries ($0.022) + Outscraper ($0.003 amortized) = under $0.03 per record fully enriched. A $1M-rev acquisition target sourced this way pays back the entire stack many times over.