Hey oh, deal-making daddies! Your weekly biz-buying newsletter that’s delivered straight to your inbox each week with more anticipation than your newborn’s gender and name reveal. Writing this between diaper changes because great deals don't wait for perfect timing.

This week’s delivery:

1. How to Buy a $4.5M Business with Only $400K Down (Real Deal Breakdown)

2. Why We Do This…Welcome!

How to Buy a $4.5M Business with Only $400K Down (Real Deal Breakdown)

Because throwing cash at problems is for people who don't understand leverage

What's good, deal hunters?

Today we're dissecting a $4.5M acquisition that'll make your brain tingle. This isn't some theoretical BS from a business school textbook—this is real money, real assets, and real creative financing that got done in the wild.

The Money Shot 💰

Purchase Price: $4.5M
Buyer's Cash: $400K (that's only 9%, people)
Seller Carries: $900K
The Rest: A beautiful Frankenstein of SBA loans and bank debt

Translation: Someone just bought a business worth more than a big baller mansion for the price of a starter home.

Here's How They Cracked the Code

The Asset Buffet 🍽️

• Welding Building: $700K

• Gravel Land: $900K

• Equipment: $1.1M

• Goodwill: $1.8M (the scary intangible stuff that keeps lenders up at night)

Pro Tip: Notice how goodwill is 40% of the deal? That's where most acquisitions die. But not this one...

The Financing Stack (Chef's Kiss)

SBA 504 Loan: $883K
Perfect for real estate + equipment. Long-term, fixed rate, basically the Toyota Camry of business loans.

SBA 7a Loan: $527K
Higher rate but flexible. This is your Swiss Army knife for covering the sketchy goodwill.

Bank Loan: $2.3M
Conventional financing for the heavy lifting.

Seller Note: $900K at 6% over 20 years
The secret sauce. Seller becomes your business partner whether they like it or not.

Why This Deal is Pure Art 🎨

1. Risk? What Risk?
Only 9% down means if this thing goes sideways, you're not losing your kid's college fund.

2. Seller Skin in the Game
That $900K note means the seller better hope you succeed. Aligned incentives = beautiful thing.

3. Lender-Friendly Structure
80%+ backed by tangible assets. Banks love stuff they can repo and sell.

4. Cash Flow Friendly
20-year amortization on that seller note instead of 5-7 years? That's the difference between sleeping well and stress-eating Tums.

The Real Talk Moment 💡

Here's what separates the players from the pretenders:

Goodwill is the boogeyman. $1.8M of "trust me, this business is worth it" doesn't get banks excited. So you need equity, seller notes, and SBA 7a loans to bridge that gap.

Most people see a $4.5M price tag and think "I need $4.5M." Wrong. You need creativity, collateral strategy, and the balls to structure a deal that works for everyone.

Your Action Items 📋

1. Match your financing to your assets - Real estate gets 504s, equipment gets bank loans, goodwill gets creative

2. Make sellers your partners - That note isn't just financing, it's insurance they didn't lie to you

3. Layer strategically - Don't just grab the first loan you qualify for

4. Always have an escape hatch - Financing contingencies save lives

5. Sweat the details - 20-year vs 9-year amortization can make or break your cash flow

The Bottom Line

This deal proves you don't need to be rich to buy businesses—you need to be smart. While everyone else is crying about "needing more capital," winners are out here structuring deals that work with what they've got.

Now stop making excuses and go find your $4.5M opportunity.

Why We Do This…Welcome!

This week, we welcome our new baby girl into this world. Now even more motivation to buy and build something that last for my family and future generations.

Say hello to my sweet Jolene!

Keep hunting,
Matt @ Acquire & Build

P.S. - If you're still thinking "but I don't have $400K," you're missing the point. Start smaller. The principles scale.

Ready to level up your deal game? Hit reply and tell me what deal you're working on. I read every email.