A Quality of Earnings report is the financial microscope through which buyers examine your business. Learn what QofE reports analyze, what they cost, and why smart sellers commission their own before going to market.
Working capital adjustments can swing your effective purchase price by $200K to $2M. Learn how the mechanism works, where disputes happen, and how to protect yourself as a seller in an M&A transaction.
A sale-leaseback is one of the most powerful tools available to business owners selling a company that owns real estate, and one of the most misunderstood. Done well, it converts your building into a long-term income stream while still capturing the full value of the business sale. Done poorly, it creates a rent burden that…
Earnouts appear in 25-40% of lower middle market deals. Learn how they work, when they make sense, the risks sellers face, and how to structure an earnout that actually pays out.
Seller financing is involved in 60-80% of lower middle market deals. Learn how seller notes work, when they make sense, how to structure them properly, and the common mistakes that cost sellers money.
Confidentiality breaches kill deals and destabilize businesses. Learn how to protect information during a business sale using NDAs, blind teasers, employee communication timing, and secure data room protocols.
The Letter of Intent is the most pivotal document in a business sale. Learn what LOI terms are negotiable, which provisions should be binding, how to handle working capital adjustments, and the red flags that signal trouble.
Tax planning can save or cost you 20-40% of your sale proceeds. Learn asset vs. stock sale structures, capital gains strategies, entity type implications, installment sales, QSBS exclusions, and Tennessee’s no-income-tax advantage.
EBITDA adjustments transform tax-minimized financials into true economic earnings. Learn owner compensation normalization, one-time expenses, related party transactions, and how to build a credible adjustment schedule that buyers trust.
If you are buying a business that owns its operating real estate, two SBA loan programs are available to you, and the difference between them in monthly cash flow can exceed $7,000 per month on a $2M acquisition. Most buyers and sellers do not understand this math until late in a deal, by which point…
Raising growth capital doesn’t mean giving up control. Learn how to evaluate debt, equity, mezzanine, and revenue-based financing structures to fund growth while maintaining majority ownership and decision-making authority.
Most business owners aren’t prepared for life after selling. Learn about the identity crisis, wealth management decisions, non-compete constraints, relationship changes, and the emotional journey that follows a successful exit.