Evaluating & financing

Evaluating & financing guides

Sanity-checking a seller's numbers and figuring out what it actually takes to finance the deal: SBA 7(a), equity injection, and the alternatives.

Reading seller financials like a buyer

The bridge from a broker's CIM to a number you can actually underwrite.

SBA 7(a) basics for an acquisition

How the loan that finances most small business acquisitions actually works.

Equity injection: the 10% rule and how to meet it

Why lenders require it, what counts toward it, and how buyers actually source it.

Getting pre-qualified before you fall for a deal

What pre-qualification actually commits a lender to, and why it should happen before you're serious about a listing.

Financing structures beyond SBA 7(a)

Seller notes, conventional debt, investor equity, and how buyers actually stack them.

Does the cash flow support the deal? (DSCR and stress-testing)

The debt service coverage math lenders run, and how to stress-test it yourself before you make an offer.

When an outsourced team is a real team

A list of contractor names isn't a team. Here's how to tell whether the workforce you're buying will survive the owner leaving.

SBA SOP 50 10 8.1: what changed, and what buyers keep getting wrong

SOP 50 10 8.1 took effect October 1, 2026. It raised the cash-flow bar for first-time acquisitions, added a Quality of Earnings requirement for larger deals, and kept the 2025 seller-note rule. Here's what changed and how to price a deal under it.