Buying a Small Business · HomeProgress 0%VisitorAll tracks
Beta build. The teaching business is fictional, case figures and model defaults are illustrative, and default loan terms are teaching defaults, not lending rules. Education only, not legal, tax, accounting or lending advice. Your work is saved in this browser on this device only.

For first-time buyers of one established small business. Business Buyer School.

Buy the cash flow, not the listing.

Learn to decide whether to buy a specific small business, at what price and with what risks. You work from evidence, not from the seller's story.

Start freeTry the free Initial screen

No account needed. Your work stays in this browser.

Fictional teaching example

A listing is a starting point. It does not prove anything yet.

Seller claim

Commercial cleaning, 14 years, 22 staff, 22 miles away. Asking $695,000. Listed cash flow $262,000. “Revenue is recurring.” “Absentee friendly.”

Evidence in the listing

None yet. A listing states claims. It attaches no documents.

Still open

Which of these claims has a document behind it?

Try the free Initial screen

Harbor Ridge Building Services is invented for teaching. Figures come from the free listing only.

The method

Four steps, and you make the call.

1

Claim

What the seller says.
2

Evidence

What the documents show, or do not.
3

Adjustment

What you will count, and why.
4

Decision

Proceed, investigate, renegotiate or reject.

Four prices, never one. You decide. The software never sets a verdict.

The curriculum

Six stages, in the order you live them.

This Beta opens 19 of 48 planned lessons, plus the capstone and the book overview.

Free

Stage 0 · Should I buy?

Outputs: Readiness decision
Free

Stage 1 · Who am I as a buyer?

Outputs: Buyer Profile
Free

Stage 2 · What can I buy?

Outputs: Buy Box, Acquisition Capacity Model
Free demonstration, then member

Stage 3 · Is this a good business?

Outputs: Business scorecard, Normalized earnings, Value range and buyer maximum, Financing model, Buyer cash, Decision Record
Coming with the full release

Stage 4 · Can I make a good deal?

Coming with the full release

Stage 5 · Should I close?

See the curriculum

What you get

What is free, what is for members, what is planned.

Free now

  • 9 lessons and the book overview
  • 4 tools
  • The Initial screen on a fictional deal

Member

  • 10 lessons and the capstone
  • 8 more Deal Lab sections

Private Beta. Membership is not for sale yet.

Planned

This Beta covers Stages 0 to 3. It is a test version, not the full school.

Three independent tracks.

They are not levels, and none is required for another. Buying a Small Business is the track being built now.

See the three tracks

Start with one decision.

Start freeTry the free Initial screen

Educational use only. Not legal, tax, accounting, valuation or lending advice.

Buyer School is an independent educational website for learning about small-business acquisitions. Its lessons, examples, checklists, calculators and reports provide general information and illustrative planning estimates. They do not provide individualized legal, tax, accounting, investment, valuation or lending advice, and they do not determine SBA eligibility, financing approval or whether a particular business should be purchased. Using Buyer School does not create an advisory or other professional-client relationship. Buyer School is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Rules, fees, rates and lender practices can change; summaries may omit exceptions. Do not rely solely on Buyer School when evaluating, financing or purchasing a business. Before signing a letter of intent or other agreement, applying for financing, waiving a contingency or committing funds, review the current official SBA website at https://www.sba.gov, including the applicable SOP, program guidance and fee notices, and applicable IRS guidance at https://www.irs.gov, and obtain transaction-specific advice from an attorney licensed in the relevant jurisdiction, a CPA experienced in business acquisitions, and the participating lender. Consult other qualified professionals when the transaction requires them. The lender must confirm how current SBA requirements apply to the proposed financing, and licensing and permit requirements must be confirmed with the issuing authorities.

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