Buying a business with an SBA loan? Learn how lenders evaluate your experience, financial qualifications, and acquisition, and why one bank might decline a deal another will finance.

Matthias Smith, Founder and President of Pioneer Capital Advisory, joins Gaston Reeder on Advisory List: The SMB M&A Podcast to explain what makes a buyer financeable. We discuss how banks assess management experience, industry knowledge, liquidity, and deal structure, with examples across manufacturing, home services, marketing, and e-commerce.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why relevant experience can matter more than deep pockets
• When your background translates to a different industry
• How licensing and key employee retention affect financing
• Down payments, working capital, and cash left after closing
• How seller notes can help address acquisition risk
• Why lender selection matters for the same buyer and deal

CONNECT WITH MATTHIAS

Pioneer Capital Advisory on Advisory List:
https://advisorylist.co/directory/debt-placement/pioneer-capital-advisory-sun-prairie-wi

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ABOUT ADVISORY LIST

Advisory List helps buyers, sellers, and investors in SMB M&A find advisors, ask questions, and learn how deals get done. Subscribe for conversations with the professionals helping businesses change hands.

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#SBALoans #BuyingABusiness #EntrepreneurshipThroughAcquisition

The South Florida home services M&A market is one of the most active in the country. Jesse Hastings, M&A Advisor and Partner at CBH Business Group, breaks down who's buying, what they're prioritizing, and what sellers get wrong before going to market.

In this episode: why private equity is lowering its entry thresholds in Florida, how individual and small strategic buyers win deals without the highest offer, the revenue mix that raises or drags your multiple, why disorganized financials cost sellers real money at exit, and how well-structured businesses sell before they ever hit a listing site.

Jesse's profile: https://advisorylist.co/directory/ma-advisors/cbh-business-group-saint-cloud-fl

Advisory List, The SMB M&A Podcast — new episodes weekly. Find verified M&A advisors, brokers, and lenders at https://advisorylist.co

Do you really need a Quality of Earnings report before buying a business? Josh Tonnesen, CPA and founder of Tonnesen Accounting Services, has guided over 500 M&A transactions. He breaks down what a QoE actually checks, why banks and brokers won't catch what a QoE provider will, how add-backs get verified, what a report costs, when to engage a provider, and the rare situations where you can skip one. Plus the single diligence step every buyer should take, even with no budget for anything else.

Guest: Josh Tonnesen, CPA, Tonnesen Accounting Services
Website: https://tonnesenaccountingservices.com
Find Josh on Advisory List: https://advisorylist.co/directory/qoe-providers/tonnesen-accounting-services-cape-coral-fl
Find verified M&A advisors at https://advisorylist.co

(0:00) Intro
(1:01) What is a Quality of Earnings report?
(2:38) What a QoE catches that banks and accountants miss
(4:24) The risk of skipping the QoE
(6:24) A deal where the QoE changed the price
(10:21) How to verify add-backs
(15:03) Which businesses have the biggest earnings gaps
(21:14) Cost and turnaround time
(23:40) When to engage a QoE provider
(25:33) When you can skip the QoE
(27:50) Audited financials vs. a QoE
(31:02) The one diligence step never to skip

What is actually happening in the wine and spirits M&A market right now?

In the first episode of Advisory List: The SMB M&A Podcast, Eric Johnson, Founding Broker of First Choice Business Brokers San Francisco Bay, joins us to discuss the current acquisition environment for wine and spirits businesses.

The conversation explores the factors shaping buyer and seller activity, what makes transactions in this sector distinct, and what buyers, sellers, investors and advisors should understand about the market.

Advisory List is a directory, community and media platform connecting buyers, sellers, investors and M&A advisors.

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https://advisorylist.co

Guest:

Eric Johnson

Founding Broker

First Choice Business Brokers San Francisco Bay