Don't buy a story.
A company, a stake, or a partnership — you're signing for someone else's numbers. We read the records first. Every time.
If you're selling a business, this page shows you what professional buyers bring to the table. Diligence isn't about finding fault — it's about finding clarity. A well-run business survives scrutiny. Clean records, sound operations, and transparent financials make deals close faster. I work for the buyer, but I respect sellers who run tight ships. That's who closes. If your records are in order, my involvement speeds your sale — a buyer with a clear report writes a firmer offer.
Years of doing this exact work.
I've walked every door. I've talked to owners who didn't want to sell. I've negotiated against people paid to cut your price. I've found the problems in month nine instead of month four. This page isn't theory.
The experience.
Everyone across from you does this for a living.
The buyer comes with an attorney. A CPA. And now, a consultant who reads records for a living. This isn't personal. It's professional diligence — the same rigor big M&A teams use. A clean business survives this scrutiny. A clean deal closes.
Three doors. Same diligence.
The purchase
Whole company. Every risk on you at close. Cleanest, most expensive.
The stake
Equity only. You're buying someone's dream or nightmare. The records reveal which.
The buy-in
Partnership role + equity. Cheapest door, easiest to get wrong — the operating agreement is everything.
Whichever door — the records get read before you sign. That's the baseline.
A consultant. On the record.
Not an attorney, CPA, broker, or investment bank. I won't dress up as one. What I do is the buyer's work a big M&A team does on $100M+ deals — research, negotiation, diligence, paperwork — scaled to Main Street deals they won't touch.
Your attorney and CPA review and finalize everything. They start from finished work instead of blank pages. That's why their bills shrink when I'm involved.
Kind to the buyer.
Ruthless with the deal.
What to expect, start to keys.
Every deal walks this same road. Here's the shape, the timeline, and what happens if you skip steps.
Prepare & search
1–6 monthsCriteria locked in. Budget split into three numbers. Offers read for what they don't say.
Steps 01–02The evaluation
7 daysRecords tested. Verdict in writing: proceed, renegotiate at $X, or walk. No ambiguity.
Step 03 — $2,000 flatPeople & terms
1–3 weeksOwner conversations — the ones that matter. LOI negotiated with protections drafted in.
Steps 04–05Diligence
30–60 daysEverything verified: books, lease, licenses, liens, capital accounts — plus the city calls.
Step 06Funding
45–90 days · runs parallelEvery structure priced. Payments tested against your forecast, not the seller's fantasy.
Step 07Closing
2–4 weeksFile prepared. Your professionals review, finalize, bless. You sign.
Step 08First 90 days
Months 1–3Plan runs. KPIs report. You own it. I'm in the corner.
Step 09listing to keys
The budget. Three numbers, not one.
The purchase price is only part of what a deal costs. Split your capital before you shop. Most first-time buyers blow this and wonder why month four feels like a panic.
This split is illustrative. Yours gets computed based on the actual business, not guessed.
Nine steps. Each one matters.
Open any step: what happens, where it goes wrong, what I handle for you.
01Get clearThe honest budget, in three numbers.+
You define what you're entering — and what it truly costs.
Where it goes wrongThe whole savings becomes the purchase budget. Then the deal closes and there's nothing for working capital or the slow first quarter.
What I handlePrice, working capital, cushion — separated into three numbers before you search for a single business. Plus a search box worth trusting: size, industry, structure, geography.
02The searchListings are sales documents, not analysis.+
Listings, brokers, quiet deals, or the partner who cold-pitched you.
Where it goes wrongFalling in love on the first look. A listing is an advertisement. So is a pitch.
What I handleReading offers for what they don't say. Real shortlisting. First contact phrased so your interest never reads as desperation.
03The evaluationSeven days. The verdict in writing.+
The story tested against tax returns, bank deposits, payroll, the lease, customer records.
Where it goes wrongTaking "adjusted" earnings at face value. Adjustments are opinions in a nice font. You're buying the business as it is, not as the seller's fantasy.
What I handleReal earnings, verified. Every liability named with a plan to overcome it. Funding picture. Your forecast under your ownership. One report, one verdict: proceed, renegotiate at a number, or walk.
04The peoplePolite questions get polished answers.+
You sit down with the owner — or the future partner.
Where it goes wrongThe important questions feel rude. Background goes unchecked because everybody likes everybody.
What I handleThe questions experience asks, asked kindly. Track record. Litigation. Liens. Prior entities and how they ended. Checked, not assumed.
05The termsThe terms carry the risk.+
The LOI — price, structure, contingencies. For buy-ins: the split and the operating agreement.
Where it goes wrongNegotiating alone against people who do this weekly. The price gets the attention; the terms carry the risk.
What I handleThe negotiation, your side of the table. Terms drafted with protections in. Your attorney reviews before anything binds. Always.
06DiligenceThe wire makes their problems yours.+
Everything verified: books to bank, lease, licenses, liens, capital accounts, employee records.
Where it goes wrongSkipping steps to keep a friendly seller friendly. Diligence is the last moment their problems are theirs.
What I handleThe full checklist — including the actual calls to the city and county. Findings in plain English: fix it, reprice it, or walk because of it.
07The moneyThe structure is a price.+
The funding blend — savings, SBA, bank, seller note, partner capital.
Where it goes wrongTaking the first approval. The structure itself is a price: different ways to raise the same money can spread your payback by hundreds of thousands.
What I handleEvery option mapped and priced. Payments tested against your forecast — not the seller's optimism.
08Paper & closingJudgment, not assembly.+
Agreements, disclosures, assignments, license transfers, the closing itself.
Where it goes wrongPaying professionals by the hour to build documents from scratch.
What I handleThe complete closing file, prepared. Your attorney and CPA review, correct, finalize. Smaller bills. Same protection. Nothing signs without their blessing.
09The first 90 daysYou own it now.+
Employees, customers, every promise the last owner made.
Where it goes wrongEntering with no map. The first ninety days set the tone for years.
What I handleThe business plan, the forecast, the KPIs for week one and year two — set up before you need them. I'm in the corner, loud when it matters.
Real outcomes. Records read first.
Anonymized from real engagements. Names, locations, and identifying figures altered or rounded. The pattern is the point.
$150K Venture Equity | Pre-Product Startup
VERDICT: DECLINE$700K Wellness Clinic Investment | Multi-Location Merger
VERDICT: PROCEED (RESTRUCTURED)$875K Capital Structure Comparison | Acquisition Funding
VERDICT: STRUCTURE IS THE PRICEA rooster in your corner.
Loud early. Protective always. Very hard to sneak past. Every call, every negotiation, every finding, every page your professionals review and finalize — from the first listing to your first quarter as the owner. You're not paying for approval. You're paying for protection.
Flat fees. No commissions. No surprises.
$2,000
Seven days. One report, one verdict: proceed, renegotiate at $X, or walk. If it doesn't earn its fee, you don't pay it.
$10,000+
Every step on this page, together. Scoped and quoted before we start. The evaluation credits toward it. Invite only.
The Diagnostic. For everything after.
Once the keys are yours, the work changes. Owning it well is its own craft. Most buyers keep me on — the operating plans, the forecasts, the quarterly read of the numbers. The Diagnostic installs the systems that remove you →
Asked plainly. Answered the same.
I've bought businesses before. Why this?+
Then you know where the bodies get buried. The evaluation beats your last diligence for speed, and the paperwork prep shrinks your professional bills.
I've never done this. Is that a problem?+
Half the reason this page exists. You bring capital and judgment. I bring the reps and the track record of deals reviewed.
Do I still need an attorney and a CPA?+
Yes. Always. Nothing binds without them. We make their work smaller and sharper. We don't replace it. If anyone says otherwise, don't hire them.
Are you a broker?+
No. No listings, no brokerage. Flat fees, your side of the table, that's it.
What if the verdict is walk?+
Then the report just saved the purchase price. And when the records are clean, the report says clean — that closes deals faster, not slower.
Does this cover partnership buy-ins?+
Yes. The company, the partner, the split, the capital accounts, the operating agreement. The cheapest door in gets the most scrutiny, not the least.
How long does the full partnership take?+
6–12 months most deals, listing to keys. Some run slower because they have bigger problems to work. Better to catch them early than in month four.
What's included in the full partnership?+
All nine steps on this page: prep, search, evaluation, owner talks, negotiation, diligence, funding, closing file prep, and the first 90 days. I'm in every one.