We once asked a seller for their financials. They proudly sent a Word document. Not a spreadsheet. A document. It had emojis. “Cash Flow 😎” was the heading. This wasn’t fraud. It wasn’t laziness. It was their normal. And that’s the reality for most small business acquisitions. You’re not stepping into a buttoned-up machine, you’re walking into a house someone built without an architect. Buyers: due diligence is the easy part. Making sense of chaos without insulting the seller? That’s the real work.