Seeking Advice: untenable deal structure, what to do next?

Hello searchfunder community,

I am under LOI for a sub $3M EBITDA specialty engineering business.

The company is growing quickly and has a longstanding reputation as an industry leader within defense contractor circles but given their customer concentration, and financial performance during COVID, the SBA debt I was intending to use is looking increasingly unlikely at the current valuation.

So as the title suggests, I think the deal structure is untenable.

With that, I think the next questions to answer are:
1. Are there alternative structures that the market would support transacting on, and;
2. Are there best practices to broaching such valuation and deal structure conversations with a seller?

My ask is: If anyone has experience in these situations and would be willing to lend some advice in the coming week, I'd appreciate the opportunity to talk through the situation with you.

Thanks all.

Cheers,
Chris