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Buy a Business.
Skip the Startup.

$10M
Combined SBA cap per deal
~10%
Typical buyer down payment
10 yrs
Standard 7(a) acquisition term
14 days
No-questions refund window
Contents

"The debt is loud at first and the ownership is quiet. Then one day the debt is quiet, and the ownership is loud."Chapter Nine

Buy a Business.
Skip the Startup.
ClarIQ Advisory
Ch. 01Buy a Business.
Why buying beats building
Key findings
5 yrswhat a startup asks you to risk on unproven demand
Day 1an acquisition opens with customers, staff, and cash flow in place
10+ yrsthe paper trail a durable company leaves, ready to verify
06
Ch. 04Buy a Business.
What you can actually afford
Dana's deal, on one receipt · hypothetical
Owner earnings (SDE)$500,000 / yr
Price at a 3.0x multiple$1,500,000
Down payment (10%)$150,000
SBA 7(a), 10-year term$1,350,000
Payments at recent rates~$220,000 / yr
Salary she pays herself$120,000 / yr
Left after salary and debt~$160,000 / yr
Rounded illustration, labeled as one. Chapter 4 walks every line.
14
Ch. 08Buy a Business.
The deal-breaker list
Seven stop signs, not discount coupons
01The owner is the business
02One customer over roughly 20% of revenue
03Revenue declining for multiple years
04Books that do not match the tax returns
05Cash revenue that is "not on the books"
06A lease or licenses that do not transfer
07A seller who is rushing you
28
Ch. 09Buy a Business.
Ninety quiet days
The rule: change nothing you do not have to
PeopleMeet every employee one on one. Your job is safe.
CustomersVisit every account that matters. Nothing changes for you.
CashFour numbers on an index card, every Friday.
The sellerDrain thirty years of unwritten knowledge while the clock runs.
32
Tap the book to turn the page

Profitable companies change hands every day. Around ten percent down, SBA-financed, the business covering its own debt. Forty-four pages on exactly how it works, and exactly where it bites.

Delivered the moment checkout completes. 14-day no-questions refund.

01 / Why this book exists

The most underused door in the economy.

"Private equity has run this playbook for decades. The 2026 SBA rule change makes it bankable at human scale."

Near you is a company that has quietly made money for twenty years. Its owner is 64. The kids became doctors and accountants, and one of the best businesses in town needs a buyer. Multiply that by every profitable company whose founder is aging out, and you have the quiet handoff this book is written for.

12,000+
Businesses for sale today
$10M
SBA combined cap per deal
64
Avg. age of a retiring founder
Business ownership by age cohort
TRANSFER WINDOW NOW 1985 2000 2010 2020 2035 2040
Ownership density Transfer window Today
The 2026 SBA rule change

Buyers can now combine SBA 7(a) and 504 financing, up to $10M combined on a single transaction. Modest equity. The business pays its own debt. The playbook that used to require institutional capital now fits on a personal balance sheet.

02 / What is inside

Ten chapters. One honest path.

You follow Dana, a 38-year-old operations manager, from a barbecue conversation to keys in hand. Dana is a composite built to teach the pattern, and every number in her story is a labeled illustration.

Want a taste first? Read chapter 8 free.
Tap a spine to preview a chapter
ChapterContents
03 / Three deals on one page

What these deals actually look like.

Three hypothetical structures, priced the way chapter 4 prices Dana's deal and shown with the same honesty: the payments, the salary, and what is left after both. The book teaches you to read and stress-test these before believing them.

All figures rounded and illustrative. Not financial advice.

Trades + real estate · illustrative
Regional HVAC Company
Asking price
$2,400,000
Owner earnings (SDE)
$520,000
Down payment (10%)
$240,000
Left after salary + debt
~$135K / yr
≈1.5x coverage
Capital stack
Equity 10% SBA 7(a) SBA 504
Owner-operated, 12 technicians. The building comes with the deal, and the 504 buys the ground under it at a long fixed rate.
Healthcare services · illustrative
Two-Dentist Practice
Asking price
$1,800,000
Owner earnings (SDE)
$600,000
Down payment (10%)
$180,000
Left after salary + debt
~$190K / yr
≈1.75x coverage
Capital stack
Equity 10% SBA 7(a) Seller note 15%
Associate dentist stays on. The seller carries 15% and gets paid over the years after closing, which keeps the handoff honest.
Recurring services · illustrative
Commercial Cleaning Company
Asking price
$900,000
Owner earnings (SDE)
$300,000
Down payment (10%)
$90,000
Left after salary + debt
~$80K / yr
≈1.6x coverage
Capital stack
Equity 10% SBA 7(a) Seller note 10%
Contracts renew monthly and the crews stay. Then the quiet engine starts: every year the loan balance falls.
04 / Before you buy it

Six honest questions.

Written to be the adult in the room. Something else on your mind? Write to hello@clariqadvisory.com.

Question

What exactly do I get?

Answer

A 44-page PDF guide book, designed like a real book, delivered instantly after checkout. Ten chapters, eight figures, an honest FAQ, and a full glossary. Read it on any device or print it.

Question

Is this financial or legal advice?

Answer

No. It is educational material that translates how SBA-financed acquisitions work into plain English. Every deal is different: engage your own lender, attorney, and accountant before acting.

Question

Do I need money saved to benefit from it?

Answer

The book is most useful before you are ready: it shows what the path costs, what lenders expect, and what to start preparing. Chapter 4 walks a full worked example so you can see the arithmetic on one page.

Question

What about the personal guarantee?

Answer

It is in chapter 3, unsoftened. If a leveraged deal fails, the debt follows you home. The second half of the book exists because of that sentence: the deal-breaker list, the stress test, the walk-away discipline.

Question

Is this just a long ad for ClarIQ?

Answer

No. Forty-three of the forty-four pages teach the path. The last page tells you who we are and offers a free call if you ever want one. The book stands on its own either way.

Question

What if it is not what I expected?

Answer

Reply to your receipt within 14 days and we refund it, no questions asked.

The ClarIQ Guide Book

Read it once. Then go look at your first company.

Forty-four pages, the real math, and the seven-flag deal-breaker list that keeps careful buyers safe. It arrives the moment checkout completes.

Instant PDF · 14-day refund · hello@clariqadvisory.com

  • Ten chapters, zero filler
  • Dana's full deal, line by line
  • 2026 SBA rules in plain English
  • The seven-flag deal-breaker list
  • The ninety quiet days plan
  • The six traps, FAQ, and glossary
Buy a Business. Skip the Startup. Book cover
One-time purchase
$19
44 pages · Instant PDF
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The Guide Book $19 · instant PDF Get the book