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Before you can evaluate a deal, you need deals to evaluate. Sourcing means building a steady pipeline from broker listings, marketplaces, and direct outreach — most buyers screen dozens of listings for every one that clears initial numbers.

Once a listing looks interesting, sanity-check the seller's numbers and figure out what an SBA 7(a) loan or other financing structure would actually require in equity injection and debt service. Lender pre-qualification early tells you what you can afford before you fall for a deal you can't finance.

A letter of intent sets price, structure, and key terms before you spend real diligence money — exclusivity, seller financing, working capital targets, and non-compete length all get negotiated here, so you're not re-litigating them weeks later.

Diligence is where you verify everything the seller has told you — financials, contracts, customer concentration, and operations — before you're contractually committed to close.

Closing brings your attorney, lender, and the seller's counsel together to finalize purchase agreements, satisfy loan conditions, and transfer ownership — weeks of document review compressed into a single signing.

Closing is the beginning, not the finish line. The first 90 days set the tone for employee retention, customer relationships, and whether the operating plan you underwrote survives contact with the business.