Everything we actually use to find, vet, fund and buy a business — the marketplaces, the analysis framework, the funding structure, the templates and the checklists. No email gate, no drip sequence. It's all on this page.
Read it, use it, go buy something. And if at any point you'd rather we just ran it for you, the call is at the bottom.
Most buyers only know the first one. The deals with the least competition are on the ones nobody checks — and on several of these, listings appear days before they syndicate elsewhere.
Set a saved search on each with your criteria and a daily email alert. The advantage isn't finding a deal nobody has seen — it's being first. Brokers respond to the first three enquiries and stop reading after ten. On a good listing that window is under 48 hours.
Marketplaces mis-tag their own listings constantly. Search by category and by keyword, or you'll miss deals that were filed under the wrong sector. Half of what we find is mis-categorised.
Written down before you look at a single listing. Without it you'll fall in love with a bad business, and every broker will waste your time with things you'd never buy.
| Criterion | What to set | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Cash flow floor | Usually $250k–$500k SDE | Below ~$250k the owner does everything and you're buying a job |
| Price range | Driven by your down payment × 10 | 10% down is the practical SBA case — $150k cash ≈ a $1.5M business |
| Geography | Where you'll actually drive | Lenders and sellers both prefer local buyers. Absentee is a harder story |
| Industry | 3–5 sectors, not one | One sector may produce two listings a month. Five keeps you in real volume |
| Owner involvement | Manager in place, or budget to hire one | The single biggest determinant of whether you bought an asset or a job |
| Age of business | 10+ years trading | It has survived at least one downturn and the customers are real |
| Multiple ceiling | Walk above ~4× SDE | Above 4× the debt service rarely works on a leveraged purchase |
Same eight questions, every single time. When a memorandum arrives, this is what gets pulled before anyone forms an opinion.
Every one of these has ended a deal we were otherwise excited about. Check all five before you get emotionally committed.
The part most people get wrong — they assume they need the whole price. You don't.
| Source | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| You — down payment | 10% | Can itself be raised — from retirement funds via ROBS, or from investors |
| Seller — carries a note | 10% | Usually 2–5 years. Also keeps the seller invested in a clean handover |
| Bank — SBA 7(a) | 80% | 10-year term. The ceiling was raised to $10M in July 2026 |
A bank will not fund your startup. It will absolutely fund you to buy a business that already makes money. Thirty years of cash flow is collateral. An idea isn't.
Take annual earnings after you've subtracted a manager's salary. Divide by total annual debt payments across every loan. That's your coverage ratio.
| Ratio | What it means |
|---|---|
| Below 1.25 | Lender will likely decline. If they don't, you should |
| 1.25 – 1.5 | Tight. Works only if earnings are genuinely stable |
| 1.5 – 2.0 | The target zone. Room to absorb a bad quarter |
| Above 2.0 | Comfortable — check you haven't missed something |
Also budget separately for working capital (roughly 60–80% of your equity injection) and $25k–$50k of legal and accounting at closing. Neither is in the asking price.
Brokers ask for this before releasing a confidential memorandum. Not having one ready is the most common reason a serious buyer loses a good deal to a slower one.
Whether it comes from your bank, your lender or a capital partner, these seven elements are what a broker is actually checking for.
[Date] · Ref: [Reference number]
PROOF OF FUNDS LETTER
To Whom It May Concern,
This letter confirms that [Buyer full legal name] has been pre-qualified to receive acquisition financing in an amount up to [$ amount] for the purpose of [type of business being acquired].
Funds have been allocated and are available for deployment. We are prepared to fund qualified transactions within [10] business days of executed definitive agreements, subject to standard underwriting and customary closing conditions.
Verification: To verify this letter, contact [verification email] referencing the file number above. This letter is valid for [90] days from the date issued.
Sincerely,
[Name, title, institution, phone, email]
A proof-of-funds letter has to be issued by a party who can actually stand behind it — your bank, your lender, or a capital provider who has genuinely reviewed your position. Writing your own, or overstating the figure, is the fastest way to lose a broker relationship permanently and can be outright fraud. Get it issued properly.
You get one first call. These separate a buyer who's done this before from one who hasn't — and sellers can tell within about ninety seconds.
The best deals never reach a marketplace. They go to the buyers a broker already trusts. This is how you become one of those buyers.
Brokers are paid by sellers, so they filter hard for buyers who can actually close. Proof of funds ready, a written buy box, and fast NDA turnaround puts you in a very small group. Volume matters too — a serious search means a few hundred broker relationships, not five.
Buying is half the work. Most first-time owners lose money in year one by changing the wrong things in the wrong order. This is the order that works.
| Days | What to do | Why this order |
|---|---|---|
| 0–14 | Change nothing. Instrument everything — phone system, one customer list, one inbox, one dashboard. Chase the unpaid invoices. | Collections is the fastest cash in the business and it's money already earned |
| 15–30 | Fix the front office. Every call answered, every lead in one place, every estimate followed up, reviews requested after every job. | You're losing 1 in 5 calls today. That's revenue already trying to reach you |
| 31–60 | Now turn on marketing. Website that takes bookings, local search, paid ads measured on booked jobs. | Advertising into a business that misses calls is how owners burn cash |
| 61–90 | Margin and recurring revenue. Flat-rate pricing, options on every quote, a membership plan, and work the old customer list. | Recurring revenue re-rates the whole business at exit, not just this year's profit |
Don't fire anyone in the first ninety days, and don't change pricing in the first thirty. You bought the business because it works. Understand why before you improve it.
Everything on this page is what we do for clients every day — sourcing across every marketplace, broker relationships, the analysis, the funding, the offer, and the growth system after close. If you'd rather not build it yourself, book a call and we'll tell you honestly whether you're a fit.
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