Resources

Learn how to buy a business

Guides to the tool and to the deal — how to run a search, verify a seller’s numbers, and get from a listing to a signed offer.

Using Acquire Scout

How to run a search, work your pipeline, verify a seller's numbers, and put an offer together — in the tool.

Create your buyer profile and run your first search
Set up the buyer profile that drives matching, then read your search results — what each score means and how to filter down to deals worth your time.
7 min read
Work your deals in the pipeline
Move deals through the stages of an acquisition, keep your notes and next steps in one place, and see at a glance which deals are going cold.
6 min read
Upload documents and read the diligence analysis
Which documents to ask a seller for, how to upload them, and how to read the analysis — verified SDE, add-back scrutiny, risk flags, and every figure cited to its source.
10 min read
How the Scout Score works — and why it can move
What the Scout Score measures, how a deal's price is compared against thousands of live listings, and why a score can shift slightly when the market moves.
7 min read
Generate a Letter of Intent
When you're ready to make an offer, what belongs in an LOI, how to generate and edit one, and what it does — and doesn't — commit you to.
8 min read

Getting ready to buy

Deciding what to buy and what you can afford, before you look at a single listing.

The stages of buying a small business
Screening, first contact, NDA, letter of intent, due diligence, purchase agreement, closing, transition — what happens at each stage, and where financing fits.
7 min read

Evaluating a business

Reading the numbers, the multiple, and the story behind why it's for sale.

Due diligence

Verifying what the seller told you — financial, legal, and operational.

Which documents to request from a seller
The seven documents to ask for, why a P&L on its own can't be verified, why the tax return is the most useful one, and why you should ask early.
5 min read

Making an offer

Structuring a deal, writing the LOI, and negotiating from evidence.

The letter of intent: what it does, and what binds you
An LOI sets price, structure and terms before the lawyers start. Most of it is non-binding — but exclusivity, confidentiality and expense clauses usually aren't.
6 min read