Insights
Clear Thinking for Buyers, Operators, and Founders
Practical thinking on acquisitions, financial systems, tax strategy, and exit planning. These insights are drawn from real work with entrepreneurs building, buying, and operating service businesses.
Small Business Chaos: Why your numbers can’t keep up with your business
Growing businesses between $5M and $15M in revenue consistently hit a ceiling that has nothing to do with their market or their product. The culprit is data integrity — financial systems built for a $1M business that never got rebuilt when the company grew. This article covers how patchwork accounting develops, the five symptoms that signal a data integrity problem, what accrual accounting and proper chart of accounts design actually require, when a business needs controller-level oversight instead of bookkeeping, and the step-by-step process for rebuilding financial infrastructure that supports real management decisions. Includes a 10-question FAQ covering bookkeeper vs. controller, job costing, close timelines, outsourced controller costs, and how financial statement quality affects lending and business valuation.
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Small Business Chaos: Why your numbers can’t keep up with your business
Growing businesses between $5M and $15M in revenue consistently hit a ceiling that has nothing to do with their market or their product. The culprit is data integrity — financial systems built for a $1M business that never got rebuilt when the company grew. This article covers how patchwork accounting develops, the five symptoms that signal a data integrity problem, what accrual accounting and proper chart of accounts design actually require, when a business needs controller-level oversight instead of bookkeeping, and the step-by-step process for rebuilding financial infrastructure that supports real management decisions. Includes a 10-question FAQ covering bookkeeper vs. controller, job costing, close timelines, outsourced controller costs, and how financial statement quality affects lending and business valuation.
How to Sell Your Small Business
Selling a business rewards owners who prepare years in advance and punishes those who don’t. This guide covers the complete lower middle market exit process: assessing readiness, understanding EBITDA multiples and what moves them, preparing financials for diligence, commissioning a sell-side quality of earnings analysis, selecting the right sale process, evaluating offers and earnout structures, structuring the transaction for tax efficiency, and managing diligence through closing. Covers Section 453 installment sales, Qualified Small Business Stock under Section 1202, asset vs. stock purchase tax treatment, purchase price allocation, working capital pegs, and representations and warranties. Includes a 10-question FAQ covering the most common seller questions.
Buyside M&A
How to Buy a Small Business
Buying a business means acquiring cash flow on day one — skipping the startup mortality curve and inheriting customers, systems, and market position. This guide walks acquisition entrepreneurs through the complete lower middle market buying process: defining an acquisition thesis, building deal flow, evaluating targets, structuring and negotiating the LOI, running a quality of earnings analysis, building the acquisition capital stack, and structuring the deal for tax efficiency. Covers SBA 7(a) financing mechanics, asset vs. stock purchase decisions, Section 338(h)(10) elections, working capital pegs, and the first 90 days post-close. Includes a 10-question FAQ optimized for common buyer searches.