Buying a Small Business · Who am I as a buyer?Progress 0%VisitorAll tracks
Beta. Fictional teaching case. Saved on this device only. 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.

Stage 1 · Free

Who am I as a buyer?

Your role, the income you need, and which of the owner's jobs you can do on day one. This is your Buyer Profile, and every deal is tested against it.

Lessons for this stage

Owner-operator or manager-run: two different dealsL-102 Free

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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