My wife is looking at acquiring a coaching certification company and would love some advice on putting together a thoughtful and competitive offer.  The company has strong operations and had adjusted SDE of ~$440K in 2022, ~$300K in 2023, and $370K TTM (end in October) with a ~30% SDE margins . The company has 40 year track record, 4 employees, and acquires most of its clients from B2C marketing (certification costs ~$5K). The company has recently raised prices ~15%, which will bolster SDE going forward (assuming it doesn't impact conversion).

My wife would run the business as the CEO as the current owner is retiring. The deal is off-market so we are dealing with the owner directly, which so far has been very positive thus far. My wife loves this business and wants to make a fair offer that will generate a reasonable salary (she is 15 years out from her MBA - though she took time off to raise our kids in between) and return on any equity investment we make.

Key Questions:

- Should we be using multiples to create an offer, and if so, what is a typical offer for a services business like this?

- We were thinking about a ~30% seller note with all or a portion forgivable. Is that market? 

- Does the SBA 7a support a smaller deal like this? Any lenders interested?