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
May 22, 2025

Why the Next Wave of Search Fund CEOs Will Look Very Different

The archetype of a Search Fund CEO is changing. Mid-career professionals, women, and industry veterans are reshaping the landscape of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) with more experience, capital discipline, and operational readiness. This shift is transforming how investors fund, evaluate, and support emerging leaders in the ETA space.

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Growth
May 22, 2025

The Real Cost of Capital: Understanding Interest, Fees, and Repayment Terms

The real cost of capital goes far beyond the interest rate—it includes fees, repayment terms, and the total impact on your business’s cash flow. Factors like origination fees, SBA guarantee charges, and loan structures (e.g., monthly vs. bi-weekly or balloon payments) can significantly change what you’ll actually pay. To make smart borrowing decisions, always calculate the full cost—including interest type (simple vs. compound)—and negotiate where possible to lower fees, secure better terms, and protect your financial runway.

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Growth
May 22, 2025

How Competitive Intelligence Tools Help SMBs Grow

Competitive intelligence (CI) tools help SMBs grow by transforming raw market data into actionable insights that improve decision-making, pricing, customer retention, and strategic positioning. These tools enable real-time competitor tracking, identify market gaps, and support smarter resource allocation, giving small businesses the edge they need to thrive in competitive environments. With the CI market rapidly expanding and tools becoming more accessible, even lean teams can now harness enterprise-level insights to fuel sustainable growth.

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Growth
May 21, 2025

What Investors Look for in a Search Fund CEO

Search fund investors don’t back business plans — they back people. They’re really evaluating whether you have the grit, leadership, trustworthiness, and operating ability to buy and grow a company with their capital. This blog breaks down the exact traits and proof points that make investors say yes to you as a Search Fund CEO.

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Growth
May 21, 2025

How Lenders Evaluate Your Business for Credit and Capital Loans

Lenders evaluate your business loan application based on cash flow strength, creditworthiness, and operational history. Key criteria include at least $10K in monthly revenue, a FICO score above 700, a DSCR of 1.25+, and well-documented financials. They also apply the "5 C’s of Credit"—Character, Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and Conditions—to assess both your ability and likelihood to repay the loan.

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Growth
May 21, 2025

How to Assess Financial Fit in Acquisitions

Assessing financial fit is critical to avoid overpaying, uncover hidden risks, and ensure long-term success post-acquisition. By analyzing key metrics like EBITDA margin, cash flow, and working capital, and comparing them to industry benchmarks, buyers can gauge whether a business aligns with their financial goals. Thorough due diligence and scenario-based cash flow testing are essential to validate earnings and build a sustainable funding strategy.

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Growth
May 20, 2025

Deal Structure Guide for Search Fund Business Buyers

The essential components of deal structuring for search fund buyers—equity, debt, seller financing, earnouts, and post-close incentives. It helps aspiring acquirers understand how to align terms with investors, sellers, and lenders to de-risk the transaction and maximize long-term upside. If you're serious about buying a business, this is your blueprint.

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Growth
May 20, 2025

The Ultimate Guide to Business Financing Options in 2025

In 2025, small businesses have more financing options than ever—from traditional SBA and bank loans to flexible alternatives like revenue-based financing, crowdfunding, and ROBS. Each option has trade-offs in cost, speed, and risk, making it critical to match funding strategies to your business's growth stage, cash flow, and credit profile. With updated SBA rules, rising interest rates, and more modern tools available, choosing the right financing path can make or break your next phase of growth.

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Growth
May 20, 2025

Ultimate Guide to Post-Acquisition Integration Tools

Post-acquisition integration often makes or breaks a deal—nearly 70% of mergers fail during this phase due to poor execution. The right tools can boost growth by 6–12%, streamline operations, and ensure compliance through automation, analytics, and collaboration features. Platforms like Clearly Acquired provide SMBs with enterprise-level integration capabilities, helping them manage data, track performance, and reduce risk during transitions.

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Growth
May 19, 2025

How to Choose the Right Business Loan for Your Growth Stage

Choosing the right business loan means matching your funding needs with your business’s growth stage—for example, startups might lean toward microloans or personal investments, while expanding or mature businesses may require larger amounts through SBA 7(a), term loans, or SBA 504 options. Always evaluate key factors like cash flow, credit requirements, repayment terms, and overall financial health to ensure the loan aligns with both your immediate goals and long-term growth plans.

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Growth
May 17, 2025

Short-Term Loan or Line of Credit: What’s Best for Your Business?

A short-term loan gives you a lump sum upfront with fixed monthly payments—great for one-time expenses like equipment or renovations. A line of credit offers revolving access to funds, ideal for managing cash flow, payroll, or seasonal inventory, and you only pay interest on what you use. Choose based on whether your need is fixed and predictable or flexible and ongoing.

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Growth
May 16, 2025

What Triggers Escrow Release in Business Sales?

Escrow funds in a business sale are released once specific conditions in the purchase agreement are met—such as clearing liens, verifying financials, transferring assets, and satisfying tax or regulatory obligations. Releases can be based on time (e.g., after 12 months) or events (e.g., hitting revenue targets or obtaining licenses). These triggers ensure both buyer and seller uphold their responsibilities before funds change hands.

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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