Before you search
Getting ready to buy
Set your buy box, line up your capital, and talk to a lender before you fall for a listing.
A written buy box, a documented equity plan sized to total project cost, and at least one lender conversation, so you can act quickly when the right deal shows up.
- 01
Write down your buy box
Decide the sectors you’d run well, the geography you’d live in (or relocate to), the SDE range you need to support a loan and your salary, and the deal-breakers you won’t negotiate on. If it isn’t written down, every polished listing will pull you off course.
- 02
Size your equity injection against total project cost
SBA 7(a) acquisition loans require at least 10% of total project cost (price plus closing costs plus any working capital rolled into the loan) from you. Work out where that money comes from (savings, gift funds, ROBS) and get it seasoned and documented now. A seller note can cover at most half of the requirement, and only on full standby for the life of the loan.
- 03
Talk to a lender before you need one
A pre-qualification conversation tells you what size of deal you can actually finance, and how a lender reads your experience. It costs little and saves you from negotiating a deal you can’t close.
- 04
Know your own operating constraints
Decide the minimum salary you need from the business, how many hours you can commit, and your timeline. Your salary need goes straight into the DSCR math a lender will run, so it shapes which deals are financeable for you.
Watch out for
- Sizing your cash against the purchase price instead of total project cost: on a $1M deal with $100k of costs rolled in, the 10% floor is $110k, not $100k.
- Assuming “the seller will carry paper” solves the down payment.
- Starting to search before you could explain your financing plan to a broker in two sentences.
Templates for this stage
Free to download with a numanknows account, alongside the deal they’re for.
Broker introduction email + buyer summary
Introduce yourself to a listing broker as a credible, financeable buyer, and request the NDA and CIM.
Lender package checklist (SBA 7(a))
What an SBA lender typically asks for on an acquisition loan: buyer, business, and deal documents.
See it in a deal
Next: From listing to CIM
This guide is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, tax, financial, investment, or lending advice, and is not a substitute for advice from a qualified attorney, accountant, lender, or other licensed professional.