Acquisition Notes

Small business M&A, plainly

Buying a small business

Most small acquisitions fail for boring reasons: the earnings were not what they looked like, or the business could not survive the owner leaving.

Owner dependence is the first question

If the customers belong to the owner rather than the company, the buyer is purchasing a job with extra steps. Ask who holds the relationships, who can quote, and what happens operationally in the first month after closing.

Price follows earnings quality, not revenue

Two businesses with identical revenue can be worth very different amounts depending on margin stability, customer concentration and how much of the profit is genuinely repeatable.