Walking away is part of the process of buying a small business.

You pay for good diligence to challenge what you understand about the business not confirm what you hope to be true. Here are real stats from the first 5 months of 2025 at Midwest CPA. 35 Quality of Earnings (QoE) engagements (Deal Size $2-15MM EV) in the first five months of 2025. Closed: 9 Dead: 13 Still in Progress: 13 (we estimate 85% of these will close) Projected Overall Close Rate: ~60% We’re seeing roughly 6 in 10 deals make it to the finish line a reminder of how vital solid diligence is when evaluating a business. Here are strategies to reduce dead deal costs: 1. Learn how to spot initial red flags yourself 2. Phase your QoE 3. Phase your service providers 4. When it's time to kill a deal, don't hesitate 5. Learn from your mistakes