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

professional profile

July 01, 2025

by a professional in Janesville, WI, USA

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
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Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA
I would also recommend talking to your lending partners / lending broker early in the process. We help our clients analyze deals and spot the bad ones and help some of them identify potential issues in advance. And we do not cost anything for doing that work. Just something to keep in mind. You can reach me here or directly at redacted
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Reply by a searcher
from Rhodes College in Houston, TX, USA
Any particular themes stick out on what caused deals to fall apart? Financial, legal, commercial, etc?
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