Clearly Acquired Blog

Expert insights, funding strategies, and practical guidance for securing capital, financing growth, and navigating business acquisitions. Whether you're raising capital for expansion, restructuring debt, or exploring your first acquisition, our blog provides the knowledge and resources to help you succeed.

Growth
July 8, 2025

Q&A: Industry Benchmarks for SMB Forecasting

Industry benchmarks help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) forecast more accurately by aligning their financial goals with market standards like profit margins, customer acquisition cost, and revenue growth. By combining these benchmarks with both data-driven and expert-based forecasting methods, SMBs can set realistic targets, improve cash flow planning, and avoid costly missteps. Tools like AI-powered software and platforms such as Clearly Acquired streamline this process, offering tailored insights, real-time updates, and more precise projections.

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Growth
July 7, 2025

How to Know You’re Ready to Buy a Business

Buying a business is a powerful path to wealth—but only if you’re ready. This article walks you through the 4 levels of entrepreneurial maturity, from technician to wealth architect, to help you know exactly when to make the leap from builder to buyer. If you’ve mastered high-value skills, built income, and want to leverage capital for ownership, this is your blueprint.

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Growth
July 7, 2025

How to Spot Cash Flow Fraud in SMB Deals

Cash flow fraud in SMB deals often involves inflated revenue, hidden expenses, or manipulated transactions designed to make a business appear healthier than it truly is. Spotting these red flags—like sudden revenue spikes, inconsistent expenses, or undocumented journal entries—requires cross-checking financials, analyzing ratios, and leveraging both human expertise and AI tools. Rigorous due diligence, combined with ongoing audits and strong internal controls, is essential to protect your investment and avoid costly surprises.

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Growth
July 7, 2025

5 Steps To Build Proprietary Deal Flow

Proprietary deal flow refers to sourcing business acquisitions directly from owners rather than public marketplaces, giving buyers access to off-market deals with better pricing, terms, and exclusivity. Building this type of deal flow requires a systemized approach: defining a clear target profile, maintaining quality data, executing personalized outreach, leveraging technology, and nurturing long-term relationships. When done right, it gives acquirers a lasting competitive edge and a higher success rate in securing ideal businesses.

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Growth
July 6, 2025

The New Playbook: Owning Cash-Flowing Businesses and Bitcoin for Generational Wealth

The modern wealth playbook is shifting away from stocks and real estate toward owning cash-flowing small businesses and storing wealth in Bitcoin. This article explores how combining Main Street entrepreneurship with the hardest asset in history creates a powerful strategy for generational wealth. It's a blueprint for those seeking control, cash flow, and long-term security in an uncertain economic landscape.

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Growth
July 6, 2025

ROI Trends in Main Street M&A

ROI is the cornerstone of decision-making in Main Street M&A, shaping how buyers, sellers, and investors evaluate opportunities. Returns vary widely by industry—healthcare, business services, and manufacturing are seeing strong growth—while operational improvements, tech adoption, and disciplined integration are key drivers of ROI. As AI, tighter regulations, and changing interest rates reshape the landscape, success in Main Street deals will favor those who combine data-driven strategy with strong execution and smart deal structuring.

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Growth
July 5, 2025

Legal Due Diligence: Litigation Checklist

Litigation due diligence is critical when acquiring a business, as hidden legal risks—like lawsuits, regulatory violations, or unresolved disputes—can lead to financial losses, deal renegotiations, or even cancellations. A thorough review helps buyers identify and quantify these risks, enabling smarter negotiations around price, indemnities, and escrow terms. By combining legal, financial, and compliance expertise with organized documentation and digital tools, buyers can protect themselves from costly surprises and ensure a smoother transaction.

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Growth
July 4, 2025

How to Handle Employee Liabilities in Acquisitions

Employee liabilities—like unpaid wages, misclassified workers, or underfunded pensions—can quietly derail business acquisitions if not addressed during due diligence. These obligations impact deal value, legal risk, and post-close integration. Buyers must identify, allocate, and manage these liabilities through careful review, strategic deal structuring, benefits harmonization, and expert support to ensure a smooth and risk-mitigated transition.

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Growth
July 4, 2025

Labor Due Diligence Checklist for Buyers

When acquiring a business, labor due diligence is critical to uncover hidden risks tied to employee relations, compensation, contracts, and compliance. It helps buyers avoid costly legal liabilities, identify cultural or operational red flags, and ensure a smooth transition. By systematically reviewing employee data, HR documents, legal exposure, and workforce dynamics, buyers can protect their investment and improve post-acquisition integration.

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Growth
July 3, 2025

How to Assess Supply Chain Risks Before Acquisitions

Supply chain risks are one of the most overlooked—but critical—factors in business acquisitions. From vendor reliability to logistics disruptions and regulatory pitfalls, hidden supply chain vulnerabilities can jeopardize deal value and post-close performance. A structured pre-acquisition risk assessment—using tools like heatmaps, supplier scorecards, and AI—helps buyers spot weak links, mitigate threats, and make smarter, safer investments.

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Growth
July 3, 2025

5 Steps to Identify Successor Leadership Candidates

Succession planning isn’t just for Fortune 500 companies—it’s critical for small businesses too. Without a clear plan, leadership transitions can create costly disruptions and put your company’s future at risk. These five steps—identifying key roles, creating success profiles, evaluating candidates, developing talent, and tracking progress—ensure your business stays resilient and ready, no matter what changes come.

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Growth
July 2, 2025

Regulatory Compliance Checklist for SMB Acquisitions

Regulatory compliance is one of the most overlooked—but mission-critical—aspects of acquiring a small business. Failure to verify licenses, permits, and legal standing can result in fines, lawsuits, or even operational shutdowns post-close. Smart buyers start early, use detailed checklists, and leverage tools like Clearly Acquired to simplify compliance, reduce risk, and protect their investment.

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Acquire Quality. Fund Growth. Close with Confidence.

As an AI-driven Business Acquisition Marketplace and Financing Platform, we are on a mission to simplify and accelerate the MainStreet to MidStreet lending and acquisition ecosystem.

We specialize in technology that supports price discovery, identity verification and financial qualification, and buy-side tools to help searchers source and manage deal flow, make offers, secure lending/financing solutions, and close with confidence.

illustration of team with digital platform

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions by users that are looking to buy businesses on Clearly Acquired:

How can I show business owners I'm a legitimate buyer and that I'm interested?

With a Clearly Verified account, you can instill confidence in other users, brokers and sellers that you are, who you say you are, when you "verify" your identify.  This is the key to instilling confidence in the users on the platform,  gaining traction and getting instant access to financials, supporting data and insight to quickly move to making an offer or moving on.   This will save you months of wasted time and expedite the closing of a sale.

How are my finances verified?

Using financial technology the Clearly Acquired Platform safely and securely verifies your finances, to help sellers understand your closing capability and help lenders expedite your financing. Additionally, the buy-side deal room will help you get your documentation in order, to prepare you for the debt and equity financing you will need to close your acquisition.

Can I get in touch with advisors to help support me in this process?

The Clearly Acquired team is here to support you on your business acquisition or business sale journey. That said, the platform is designed to connect you with a community of users, who are identify verified, which include: investors, lenders, advisors, brokers, consultants, and other buyers who are looking for partners.  

What is a Deal Hub?

The Deal Hub is the central repository for all transaction-related activities on our business acquisition platform. It serves as a secure and organized space where buyers and sellers can access critical information and manage the entire acquisition process efficiently. The Deal Hub is divided into two main components: the Data Room and the Deal Rooms.

Data Room: The Data Room is a secure, virtual storage space where sellers can upload and share essential documents related to their business. This includes financial statements, legal contracts, operational reports, and other due diligence materials. Buyers can access these documents to conduct thorough evaluations and make informed decisions. The Data Room ensures that all sensitive information is protected and only accessible to authorized parties.

Deal Rooms: The Deal Rooms are dedicated spaces for each business listing where buyers and sellers can collaborate and negotiate terms. Each Deal Room is equipped with tools for real-time communication, document sharing, and tracking the progress of the deal. This streamlined environment facilitates transparent and efficient interactions, helping to expedite the acquisition process and ensuring that both parties are aligned at every stage.

The Deal Hub's comprehensive and secure infrastructure simplifies the complexities of business acquisitions, providing a seamless experience for all users involved.

What is Plaid?

Plaid is a financial technology company that provides a secure and seamless way to connect and interact with financial institutions. It enables applications to access users' financial data with their consent, facilitating a wide range of services such as identity verification, account authentication, and transaction history retrieval. Plaid's robust API infrastructure ensures high security, reliability, and compliance with regulatory standards.

By integrating Plaid, Clearly Acquired can offer a secure, efficient, and reliable method for identity verification, building trust among users and ensuring the integrity of the acquisition process.

I am new to the idea of business acquisition, where can I get more information on how to get started?

Make sure to check out our Educational Course on Business Acquisition that is offered in our paid plans for buyers: From Purchase to Profit: Mastering the Art of Business Acquisition.

This Membership Course for buyers is designed to empower individuals with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to navigate the business acquisition process successfully. Whether you're a first-time buyer or an experienced entrepreneur, our course equips you with the tools and insights needed to make informed decisions and achieve your acquisition goals. Join us and embark on your journey to buying a business with Clearly Acquired.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

Create Your Account. Get Verified. Start Searching.

1

Create an account

Every day, lenders, investors, brokers, and sellers come to Clearly Acquired looking for qualified operators like you. Creating an account and getting verified helps you stand out and build trust.

2

Build your profile

Build your profile to get matched with capital and opportunities. Showcase your expertise and resume, to connect with the right capital and acquisition partners—making every opportunity count.

3

Search & Connect

Browse Verified listings, source off-market deals, & manage deal flow with powerful tools to underwrite opportunities, and connect with capital to streamline the entire acquisition and funding process

Join the Clearly Acquired Search Community

Create Your Profile & Get Verified for Free