Transcript
Part one, the short version. Here's the short version of the acquisition plan in plain English. The goal is to buy a business that already makes money and already runs under a manager, so you're buying cash flow, not a second job. The target price is between $600,000 and $1.8 million, with a sweet spot between $800,000 and $1.4 million. Think of it like the Raven's front office. You're not trying to be the running back on every snap.
You want to be the one calling the plays from the sideline, with a strong general manager running the day-to-day on the field. Three rules run the whole plan. Rule one, judge every business by what it earns after a real manager gets paid. Sellers quote a number called SDE, which counts the owner's own pay as profit. We subtract a market salary for a manager first. That smaller, honest number is called recast SDE, and the plan targets $300,000 to $600,000 of it.
Most so-called hands-off listings die at this step, and that is the point. Rule two, pay small business prices. Businesses in this size range usually sell for about two to three times their yearly cash flow. Bigger companies use a different yardstick and pay more per dollar of profit, and those prices do not apply down here. Rule three, the bank sets the real rules. Since October 1st, 2026, the SBA requires first-time buyers to put at least 10% down, with no way to waive it.
The business's past earnings, not projections, must cover the loan payments at least 1.25 times over, and the business cannot be passive. A manager-run business, where you actively manage the manager, can be financed. A business you never touch cannot. Where to look? Biz buy sell for local Atlanta businesses, and acquire.com and empire flippers only for online ones.
The best-fits are business-to-business services and agencies, manager-run home services like Pest Control and Pool Service around Atlanta, and pet services as an add-on to Wags for Us. That is the whole plan. Part two explains the jargon word by word, and the memo parts after that read the full document allowed.