Broke Is No Excuse

Most people think buying a business is for rich people.

That you need a pile of cash, a finance degree, and a group of polished advisors with pitch decks and private equity connections.

They’re wrong.

What you need is a structure that works—and the willingness to use it.

I’ve bought businesses with little to no money down. And I’m not alone.

Because here’s the truth: the system is set up to make this possible. The tools are already there. You just have to stop looking for permission and start looking for deals.

Let’s break it down.

The SBA Will Lend You 90%

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has a loan program that covers up to 90% of the purchase price for deals under $5 million. It’s designed specifically for small business acquisitions—and recent rule changes have made it even more flexible.

Buyers can now use SBA funds for partial buyouts, and seller financing placed on full standby often counts toward your equity injection. That means you don’t always need outside cash to meet the down payment. You just need a deal the bank can underwrite.

If the business has strong cash flow, clean books, and a seller who’s willing to stick around for a smooth transition? You’re bankable.

Why does this exist?

Because the government wants these businesses to survive.

They don’t want 75-year-old owners shutting down profitable companies because no one showed up to buy. They want continuity. Jobs. Local tax base. And they’ll back a bank loan to make it happen—if you come in with the right structure.

But a word of caution—SBA isn’t your only path.

It’s just the most popular. And the slowest. Personal guarantees, collateral grabs, 90-day closings, and enough paperwork to drown a CPA. Deals decay while you wait.

That’s why experienced buyers keep other tools in the stack. And you should too.

The 10% Gap Is Solvable

That missing piece—the down payment everyone gets stuck on—is usually not the thing that kills the deal.

Here’s how people solve for it every day:

1. Seller Financing
The seller agrees to take a portion of the price as a note—paid back over time with interest. Common in blue-collar deals where trust matters more than speed.

2. Equity Partner
You find an investor willing to put in the 10% in exchange for equity—usually 10–20% of the business. They want yield, not a job.

3. Earnout Structure
You offer to pay the remaining amount based on future performance. “We hit X, you get Y.” It aligns incentives and protects your downside.

4. Rollover Equity
The seller keeps a small ownership stake and continues helping post-close. Useful when institutional knowledge is hard to replace.

5. Revenue-Based Financing
You borrow based on future revenue and repay as a percent of monthly sales until a fixed cap is hit. No equity. No fixed payments. No personal guarantee.

Not all of these structures play nicely with SBA financing. The SBA is strict about how the deal is funded and who ends up on the cap table. **Seller financing can count toward your down payment—**but only if it’s fully subordinated and on standby for the life of the loan. Equity partners? Fine. But they can’t control the business unless they’re a co-borrower. And earnouts or rollover equity? Forget it. The SBA wants clean ownership, fixed pricing, and no post-close surprises. If you’re using SBA, keep it simple. If you’re going non-SBA, stack the deal however you want—just make sure it clears.

In most small deals, these tools stack together to cover the entire down payment.

You bring the structure.
They bring the money.
Everyone gets what they need.

You Don’t Need the Money. You Need the Deal.

Here’s what most people miss:

You don’t raise capital before finding the business.
You raise it because of the business.

If the deal has:

• Steady cash flow
• Solid financials
• Transferable operations
• A seller who’s ready

Then capital will follow.

Lenders will underwrite it.
Investors will back it.
Sellers will get flexible.
Because the structure makes sense.

The best deals aren’t the cheapest—they’re the ones that actually close.

But none of that happens if you’re sitting on the sideline, refreshing BizBuySell, waiting until you “have the money.”

You don’t need the money.
You need the deal.

Let’s Do the Math

Let’s say you find a business:

• $1 million purchase price
• $300,000 in Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)

You structure the deal like this:

• $900,000 SBA loan (90%)
• $100,000 investor equity (10%)

You offer the investor a 15% equity stake. That earns them $45,000 per year from profit.

The SBA loan is amortized over 10 years at ~10% interest, so your annual debt service is around $138,000.

Here’s how the cash flows:

• $138,000 to SBA lender
• $45,000 to investor
• You keep the remaining ~$117,000/year

Still zero down. Still cash flowing.
You own the business—with leverage, equity, and control.

That’s the power of structure.

Want an Alternate Stack?

Same business. Same price. No bank.

• $1 million purchase price
• $300,000 in Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)

You structure the deal like this:

• $400,000 seller note (paid over 3 years, interest-only or backloaded)
• $350,000 investor equity (20% stake, expecting $60,000/year)
• $250,000 revenue-based loan (repaid as a percentage of gross receipts)

Let’s break it down:

• $40,000/year to seller (interest-only)
• $60,000/year to investor (20% of profit)
• $72,000/year to RBF lender (6% of ~$100K monthly revenue)
• You keep the remaining ~$128,000/year

No bank. No SBA. No personal guarantee.
Still zero down. Still cash flow positive.
Still yours.

So Why Isn’t Everyone Doing This?

Because they:

• Think it’s a scam
• Don’t know where to start
• Won’t ask for help
• Won’t pick up the phone
• Can’t let go of the fantasy of perfection

They want the “perfect deal” and end up doing nothing.

But good deals get taken.
Perfect ones don’t exist.

Yes, there are bad deals.
Yes, you need diligence.
But no, you don’t need millions to start.

You need:

• A real deal
• A structure that works
• The guts to make the offer

Everything else? You’ll learn as you go.

Still Stuck? Start Here

If this feels like too much too fast, start with this:

Read: How a Business Gets Bought
It’s a straight walkthrough of the full acquisition process—step-by-step, no fluff, real examples.

Then ask yourself:

• What would you look for in a seller?
• What kind of business could you run?
• Who in your circle has capital but no time?
• What’s stopping you from sending an LOI?

Still unsure?

Make a spreadsheet. List your stack options:

• Seller note
• Investor equity
• Earnout
• Rollover
• RBF
• Asset-backed loan

Model three paths to closing.
You don’t need one big check. You need a structure that adds up.

Final Word

Stop thinking like a consumer.
Start thinking like an operator.

You don’t need the money.
You need the deal.
You need the structure.
You need to move.

Every day you wait is one more day someone else buys the business you could’ve owned.

This game is for those who step up.
No cape. No secret formula. Just action.

The tools are already there.

Use them.