The best acquisition opportunities rarely survive a slow buyer. Good businesses — properly priced — draw multiple offers within weeks. Buyers who have already done their homework close at market price; buyers who start from zero get left with the leftovers.
Complete Before You Look
- Capital strategy. Know whether you’re an SBA-financed searcher, a cash buyer, an investor group, or a strategic acquirer — and have your financing pre-underwritten. An SBA pre-qualification letter takes two weeks and removes the single most common deal-killer: financing delays.
- Acquisition criteria. Write them down: industry, geography, ideal revenue and EBITDA range, SDE requirements, and your non-negotiables (real estate included? owner transition period? staff retention?). Criteria are how you say no fast — and speed of no is what keeps your reputation with brokers.
- Advisory team. An M&A attorney familiar with business acquisition, a CPA who has closed purchases (not just tax returns), and a banker who has funded them. Assemble before you need them; the best ones are booked.
- Your diligence process. Know what you will verify for every target: cash-flow normalization, customer concentration, contract renewals, key-person dependence, and facilities condition. A checklist turns a chaotic two-week scramble into a calm process.
During the Process
Read the CIM before the preview call. Ask questions that demonstrate realism, not skepticism — “what would change your EBITDA going forward” is more valuable than “why are you selling” (the answer is almost always: retirement, and it’s the right answer). Move through diligence in parallel, not sequence: while your banker works the file, your operator visits the facility and your attorney reviews contracts.
After the Offer
A strong offer is clean, funded, and time-bound: earnest money committed, financing pre-underwritten, 30-day diligence, no re-trades. In competitive processes, clean and fast routinely beats higher-and-messy.
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