Buying a Small Business · Can I make a good deal?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 4 · Member

Can I make a good deal?

Turn the Decision Record into an offer: price, terms, conditions, and how each open issue is handled. The letter of intent is where you find out whether the seller will accept them.

For members

This part opens with membership of Buying a Small Business. Stages 0 to 2 are free. The Initial screen is free. The other eight sections open with membership.

What membership opens

On this deal, membership would let you do the work a listing cannot:

  • Claims and evidence: ask for the documents and record what each one establishes
  • Earnings: test every add-back and rebuild what the business earns for a buyer
  • Valuation: keep the four prices apart and set your own maximum
  • Financing: see sources, uses and what the loan costs
  • Buyer cash: see what is left for you after the role and the loan
  • Downside: revenue loss, the largest customer leaving, a higher rate, a late-paying month
  • Ten acquisition tests, each traced to evidence
  • Decision Record: a decision you can explain, with what is still missing and what to do next
Educational use only. Not legal, tax, accounting, valuation or lending advice. Full statement

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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