General Approaches to Deal Structuring?

June 17, 2025
by a searcher from Indiana University at Bloomington in St. Louis, MO, USA
Looking for any helpful resources, links, videos, articles, or comments that help me think more strategically about my deal structuring.
For bids I've submitted to date, I've used ETAIQ to model out IS / cash flows, considering my personal expenses, maintenance capex, and some other standard deal dynamics. Once I've got the basics in there, I'm really just adjusting the % SBA loan and % Equity injection such that:
- I've got a good debt service coverage ratio (modeling towards 1.5x for now, to be conservative)
- The cash due on closing from my bank account is feasible w/ my current cash position
Beyond the two points above, I've gotten recent advice to consider NWC required on Day 1 and to preserve enough cash in my own bank acct such that I can cover personal expenses and shit hitting the fan in the business in the first ~6 months of ownership.
What am I not thinking about that I should be?
Does anyone have a general framework or process for developing a deal structure they would recommend?
I don't have a lot of process or strategy built into my current approach so I'd love to get thoughts on how best to do that.
from University of Pennsylvania in Denver, CO, USA
from University of Toronto in Toronto, ON, Canada