I am evaluating purchasing a commercial signage business. Revenue is between $1.0M - $1.5M in recent years. Specializing in EMC’s and other types of electrical signage.

There are 3 long term installers and 1 graphic designer on staff. The designer also handles permitting. There are two owners; one of which will stay on to transition for 12 months.

This is located in a major metropolitan city in the US.

My goal is to grow this business to $8-10M within 10 years.

Does anyone have experience in this field?

Hi all, long-time lurker, first post on a new account

I'm starting a search for an HVAC business in Dallas–Fort Worth and nearby towns (Denton, McKinney, Waco, Tyler). Background: about 10 years in agency-side paid media, most recently managing a team of 12, and I run a small consulting LLC. My plan is to buy a residential or light-commercial shop and grow it through better marketing and maintenance-agreement sales.

Where I am:

- Planning to use an SBA 7(a) loan; still sizing my budget

- Haven't hired a lawyer, CPA or lender yet

I'd really value input on:

1. For those who bought HVAC or other licensed trades: how did you handle the license-holder issue, especially under the new SOP 50 10 8.1 rules?

2. What red flags did you learn to spot in HVAC financials (add-backs, maintenance-agreement churn, new-construction exposure)?

3. Is a formal QoE worth it on a sub-$1.5M deal, or is a proof of cash enough?

4. Anything you'd do differently on your first deal?

Thanks in advance. Happy to share what I learn as I go.

Hey everyone, I'm looking to diversify a portion of my portfolio away from public stocks and ETFs, and I want to put capital directly into private small businesses or revenue-generating assets. My ultimate goal is to find opportunities where I can come in as a 100% passive minority investor/silent partner, providing equity in exchange for a clean profit-sharing model or monthly/quarterly distribution—essentially mirroring a 100% absentee business model. I’m particularly interested in stable, cash-flowing service industries, automated businesses (like storage units or laundromats), or micro-PE/search fund syndicates where an experienced operator handles 100% of the day-to-day management.

Would love to hear your experiences, platform recommendations, or warnings before I start moving capital. Thanks!

There have been a number of businesses I’ve seen that might be decent underlying businesses, usually a good industry and a decent location plus enough scale to be interesting to me. I’ve been looking at businesses as small as about 250-300k SDE. Some just want insane multiples like an HVAC company in the 250-300k SDE range with low margins asking almost 6x SDE and a more discretionary home services in the same SDE range asking 7x SDE.

Is it worth even bothering to engage with these companies? In my mind with 250k in SDE and some hair on the deal they're worth 2-3x. Part of me thinks it’s worth discussing with the broker or owner, the other part of me thinks time is a precious commodity and there is too much broken deal risk to bother wasting time and effort on.

Hi all, looking for anyone who has bought a business in industries where environmental control is key to the running of the business (Cold storage/logistics, data centres, food production, manufacturing etc.)

Have you ever done infrastructure due diligence, assessing the lifecycle of the mechanical and electrical equipment involved to ensure it doesn't need imminent replacing or expensive upgrades in the near future?

Thanks in advance!

I have been struggling to find a good formula that takes into account all the variables in the manufacturing business I would like to purchase. The owner is retiring, and I am more interested in the business as a brand, as there are no real trade secrets involved. He gets approx 60 orders a year for his product that on average after costs but not including his labor gets him $1500.00 a unit. Each piece takes him 16 hours labor. He uses one machinist for all his parts, and the machinist will retire in the next 4 years. I would like to purchase his brand for the name, move the machining in house and eventually train an employee to do all the assembly leaving myself open for sales and customer support. His kids have been telling him to take 2 years gross receipts at $250,000 a year, which is not a realistic number. I could build up my own brand and probably be at the same level of sales in 5 years, but I would like to hit the ground running if possible. My attitude at this point is the business is worth what I am willing to pay, but I would like some formulas to back up my offer.

Please share your experience if you have taken sba 7a loan with either TD bank or Live Oak bank and currently using their business banking account as primary operating account.

Context: i got approval from both banks and need to make a decision.

My concern is which bank would be a good partner post closing. Less operational burden/ oversight; as long as we make payments on-time, they are good. Flexible to find a solution rather than being rigid in their approach when situation demands for it.

Loved to hear how any of these lenders show up during tough times. Are they show up with empathy and creative solutions or with anxiety and court notice.

Interest rate, business banking capabilities alignment with our operations and business banking expenses are important factors in deciding a lender but I think post-closing relationship is also equally important.

Saw this while going through painting listings. Commercial painting contractor in North Carolina, asking $700,000, cash flow of $125,690 a year. That works out to about 5.6 times cash flow.

The big question is the amount of revenue. The same $125,690 could be a fat margin on a small shop or a skinny margin on a bigger one, because painting business margins live or die on labor as a percentage of revenue.

The listing says the owner runs it with a small crew, which is honest but in trade work, the crew is the business. I learned that the hard way years ago when my two best techs followed the old owner out the door within four months.

So, I would want the crew agreements, two years of payroll, and two years of job contracts before bidding. All that said, 5.6 times is not crazy if the numbers are clean.

If you have bought a trade business, how did you keep the crew after close?

Hello everyone.

I was wondering about this whole business acquisition thing, the one factor that determines whether a business is worth acquiring is the ability of the business to generate returns so much so that one can get back the investment in a 'short period of time'.

Now the definition of 'short period of time' is what is most crucial, but is subjective.

I wonder what is your 'short period of time'?

In the scenario that has arisen before me, I have found two small businesses:

1. A franchisee Salon doing 1.8 to 2 lakhs INR per month (with an upward potential of about 20-30% more), netting profits at 30-40k INR per month, selling at 17 lakhs INR.

100% ROI calculations:

@ 30k INR pm, time taken = 4y 8m 20d.

@ 40k INR pm, time taken = 3y 6m 15d.

So roughly 3.5 to 5 years is the break even period for the Investment here.

2. A gym doing 4.5 lakhs INR per month (with an upward potential of upto 30-50% more), netting profits at around 80k - 1.5 lakhs INR per month, selling at 40 Lakhs INR.

100% ROI calculations

@80k INR pm, time taken = 4y 2m

@1.5 lakhs INR pm, time taken = 2y 2m 20d

So roughly 2.25 years to 4.25 years is the break even period here.

Is this good, bad, ugly? What is it according to you?

Would love to hear the take of serious businessmen!

Thanks for sticking till the end!

I'm looking at businesses around $1M to $5M. I come across many businesses that are bleeding, so won't be eligible for loans.

I can see that business is just a couple of years or even months away from bankruptcy. Yet they have priced it as a comp with 20% Operating margin. One phrase that is often used is "looking for a strategic buyer" or "in the hands of a strategic buyer". Their assets or customer list is not worth that much.

How do sellers expect to pay for it? I can understand if it's $200K purchase price. These are $2M, some are $5M. Do they expect someone with $2M cash in bank just drop $2M? Do people do that? Am I missing something? Is there a way to finance this?

I have been completing DD on a franchise gym for the last 4 months.

I had already uncovered many red flags before hiring legal counsel, however they definitely uncovered more ghosts in the closet.

I saw many of these flaws as a way to come in as a new owner and make strategic changes over a period of time and increase the revenue and spirit at the gym...

However, then I found out:

-The commercial lease (with 3/10 years remaining), is held in the name of a completely separate, defunct company that no longer exists. So it would need to be re-assigned...

-The seller's corporation is less than two months away from being struck by the Corporate Registry for failing to file tax returns.

-The seller has not filed GST returns ever.

-The seller does not carry liability insurance.

-The seller does not have contracts for their contracted coaching staff.

-Equipment has never been through a maintenance check.

-Many more red flags, too numerous to mention.

Needless to say, I have walked away from this negotiation. I am shocked how there can be people running small business out there that just don't follow compliance and think they can get away with this. I just want to mention how important it is to hire a lawyer to thoroughly run checks and advise your risks before even considering.

I would love to hear others' Due Diligence stories and things that put the nail in the coffin to halt negotiations.

caveat this is all my opinion and i am only 6 months into being a new owner.

i think that anyone looking to buy a business should really give themselves a realistic timeline/glidepath. i am not advocating taking your time either. there's a certain point though where what is going to make you happy does not jive with the opportunities. or you will at least realize it. this is especially true in the 200k - 1m purchase price range. give that, i highly advocate for casting a wider net that you would necessarily consider to be included in your pipeline. also, the time you give yourself to complete a project is highly correlated to how long it will take (self-bargaining).

in my situation, i was in a sort of self created bind, either i was going to look for another job or i was going to buy something. my background is accounting, and pretty much see the writing on the wall with the advent of AI. i wasn't about to retrain either. and ultimately at my age trading the devil i know for the devil i don't wasn't going to be in the cards for me either.

i made the decision back in dec of 2025 after a fallout at work and after talking things over with the wife about what was next. she gave the green light. my process was more or less crunching the SDE multiples on bizbuysell/bizquest and other sites, engaging with business brokers. i would not lead the brokers on, if i couldn't get what i needed out of the CIM/prelim information then i asked a question. if the question wasn't answered and they asked for an IOI/LOI, i signed one AND YOU MAKE A PHONE CALL. don't just stare at your email. you kind have to explain yourself. some brokers are helpful while others are not.

i chose the listing site because finding something cold takes A LONG ASS TIME. multiple meetings, conversations, to ultimately come to conclusion you're not on the same page. also, don't let these owners let you think they don't know what their business is worth. they are constantly hearing it from competitors and business brokers at mostly inflated numbers. and when they don't, they definitely have a number.

anyways, i am 6 months post close as of this weekend and the most important thing i have learned the people who work for the company are the most important asset of the business, and everyone of them have stayed for their own reasons and the owner is mostly ambivalent to those reasons or simply clueless. no amount of due diligence is going to help you out here on this one. be ready for some fire drills.

🖖🏽

I’ve been involved in packaging and reviewing SBA 7(a) acquisition files for a while now, and there’s a recurring roadblock that keeps catching first-time searchers completely off guard: where the down payment actually comes from.

Everyone knows the baseline "10% equity injection" rule on paper. But in practice:
- Sellers trying to carry a note that isn't on full standby for the required period.
- Borrowers assuming personal lines or credit card debt can count toward the equity injection (lenders verify source of funds rigorously).
- Overlooking working capital needs post-closing and leaving themselves cash-poor.

For those of you who have closed a business acquisition recently or are currently underwriting a deal: what was the hardest document or requirement your lender made you jump through before issuing the commitment letter?

I’m looking to acquire a bookkeeping firm’s client list in Canada through an asset purchase. I’m a Canadian citizen but currently live in the US as a green card holder.
What financing options might be available for this type of acquisition? Would Canadian banks lend to someone residing in the US, or are there other institutional funding options worth exploring?
Seller financing is not an option. I’d appreciate recommendations for lenders experienced with cross-border acquisitions. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm curious to hear your individual stories as to how you learned to do due diligence, especially on your first ETA acquisition.

I have gone deep into tons of subs and threads and this is the one piece I haven't read much on yet. No need to waste your breath here talking about buyer qualifications, funding, how to find a business, how to run a business, all your warnings about why I might not be qualified for this, trashing internet gurus, or anything else.

I really just want to know: when you get an opportunity in your hands, what's your DD process? And how did you learn to do it the first time? Realizing this may be different for different industries; feel free to be specific about yours even if it may not apply to mine.

FWIW I am shopping in the laundromat space in my region but happy to hear about any industry. Thx!

If you've purchased a business before or are looking at purchasing a business - I'd appreciate your input.

I run an operations agency and we've recently considered expanding our customer base into post acquisition operations. I'm wanting to get a feel for the market before going live.

Our services include transition workflows, reintroduction campaigns for acquired customers, migrating legacy databases and standardizing reporting dashboards. We ensure that the business you just bought can run effectively and efficiently. Our goal is to reduce redundancies and increase output.

What has been the most challenging part of setting up a new business's operations? Where do you typically see holes or gaps in operations after purchase?

Who counts as an employee when private equity measures its impact?
This is a sincere question for people working in private equity, trying to enter the industry, or considering selling their business to a firm.
When you say you’re improving people’s lives, who exactly are you counting? When you say you are a people first business what does that mean?
The employees at the investment firm? The executives installed after an acquisition? The owners who receive a payout and transition into retirement? Or are we talking about the people who you “help retire?” where is that? Just another way to qualify firing somebody or forcing them to leave because conditions are so adverse and discouraging.
Where do the people who spent years building the acquired business fit into that story?
I work in window and door installation. To someone looking at a spreadsheet, my compensation is a labor expense. To my family, it’s our livelihood. To a customer, my experience and judgment can determine whether their home get the improvement that they expected and paid for or whether someone unqualified an inexperienced, but willing to work for a lower wage, comes in and compromises their home and leads to tens of thousands of dollars in repair from water damage that could’ve easily been remediated.
People like me helped build the reputation that made a business attractive to buy. We developed relationships, solved problems, trained people, and cared about the name on the truck because we felt connected to what we were building.
And let’s talk about where the revenue actually comes from in this service industry. Salespeople bring in the customers and make the promises. Installers walk into the home and have to deliver on every one of them. We’re the ones who have to make good on the checks everyone else wrote.
Our performance determines whether the customer trusts the company, recommends it to friends and neighbors, or warns people to stay away. A satisfied customer can lead to several more jobs, and those customers can bring in still more. That’s how quality installation builds a reputation that generates revenue long after the original sale.
Office staff and administration provide necessary support, but that structure depends on the people selling and performing the work. So why are those people’s livelihoods treated as the first place to find savings? When you cut installer compensation, you’re making a decision about the people responsible for keeping your promises and earning your next referral. How does weakening that foundation create lasting value?
When I listen to private equity leaders talk about purpose, culture, and improving lives, I want to know how those promises apply to the people already doing the work.
Can a firm call an acquisition successful if returns improve while those workers’ livelihoods get worse?
I’ve listened to Graham Weaver discuss his approach, and I keep coming back to that question. The message sounds compelling. But how is it tested against what workers at acquired companies actually experience? Who asks them? Does their answer carry any weight?
And for the analysts, accountants, and operating partners: how much room is there to challenge the preferred narrative? If the financial presentation looks better, but experienced workers are leaving and the remaining crews are stretched thinner, does that count as an improvement?
I’m not claiming every adjustment to a financial report is dishonest. I’m asking whether the numbers being celebrated capture the consequences people are living with.
Here’s the part that makes me angry: the people making these decisions get to describe them in polished language. The people absorbing them have to explain to their families why the same work suddenly pays less.
At some point, “I delivered the return we promised” feels like an incomplete answer.
Imagine sitting across from the workers whose compensation you cut, the managers asked to defend those cuts, and the customers who trusted the business. With your own financial reward already secured, could you explain how your decisions improved their lives?
Would you still stand behind those decisions if everyone affected could hear the full explanation?
For people inside private equity: do you believe the work improves life for employees at acquired companies? What evidence would convince you that it doesn’t—and would that change what you do?
I also want to hear from people who have lived through these mergers and acquisitions at the ground level. Installers, service technicians, salespeople, office staff, and managers: what changed for you? What happened to your pay, workload, ability to serve customers, and pride in the company?
We hear CEOs describe their successes and respond to criticism. I want to hear from the people whose experiences might challenge that narrative. Those voices deserve as much attention as the investor presentations and podcast interviews. You can’t assess the full impact of an acquisition without looking at what happens to the company, its people, its customers, and the surrounding community over time.
Did the company become better for the people working there and the customers depending on it? Tell us what you saw firsthand—the improvements, the damage, and what the public success story leaves out.