When to start engaging lenders?

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April 16, 2026

by a searcher in Los Angeles, CA, USA

For those of you who went the self-funded route, how soon is too soon to start engaging SBA lenders? I’m still in the thesis refinement and early deal-analysis stage, but I’m trying to get smarter about when it makes sense to start those conversations, what lenders are actually willing to discuss before a deal is under LOI, and at what point it becomes worth doing more formal outreach. I’d also be curious how others approached this early on. Did you wait until you had a live deal, or did you start lender conversations earlier to calibrate what size and type of business was realistically financeable? And if there are SBA lenders you’ve had a particularly good experience with for self-funded acquisitions, I’d definitely appreciate any recommendations.
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Reply by a searcher
from University of Pennsylvania in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Not a lender but I was introduced to one pretty early, like after I'd formed a thesis and started searching opportunistically. I'm sure it depends on lender whether or not they like that but it helped because they offered a ton of insights on how to work with them. Also I know some of the bigger lenders do webinars so that may be helpful.
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