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
February 20, 2025

Common Business Acquisition Deal Structures Explained

Understanding how different deal structures work is essential for navigating business acquisitions. Asset purchases let buyers pick specific assets while avoiding most liabilities. Stock purchases, on the other hand, require taking on all liabilities but offer tax perks and ensure smooth operational transitions - especially valuable when contracts or licenses are hard to reassign. Lastly, earn-out agreements help bridge valuation gaps by tying part of the payment to future performance, aligning both parties' interests.

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Growth
February 19, 2025

5 Essential Steps to Secure Business Acquisition Funding

Securing funding for a business acquisition requires careful preparation and a clear understanding of your options. With over 12 million businesses projected to change ownership in the next 10-15 years [2], knowing how to navigate the funding process is essential.

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Growth
February 18, 2025

SBA Loans vs Traditional Bank Loans for Business Buyers

When deciding between SBA loans and traditional bank loans, it's all about aligning the loan's features with your specific needs. SBA loans, supported by government guarantees, provide easier qualification criteria and are accessible to a broader range of buyers and businesses

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Growth
February 17, 2025

10 Due Diligence Red Flags When Buying a Business

Conduct thorough financial analysis, verify legal compliance, and assess operational health to safeguard your investment. These steps can help you identify risks early and negotiate better terms.

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Growth
February 16, 2025

Business Acquisition vs Startup: Which Path to Choose?

Deciding between acquiring a business or starting one from scratch is a major choice with distinct advantages and challenges. Acquisitions offer immediate revenue, established systems, and lower risk but require high upfront costs and potential integration hurdles. Startups provide full creative control and innovation opportunities but come with higher risk, delayed profits, and the challenge of building everything from the ground up.

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Growth
February 15, 2025

7 Key Steps to Value a Business for Acquisition

Factors like growth rate, market position, and operational risks play a big role - these are covered in Steps 3-5. Combine these guidelines with your Step 4 market research to confirm valuation ranges before making any final decisions.

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Growth
February 13, 2025

2025 Updates in the SBA Lending World: What You Need to Know

The SBA lending market remains strong in 2025, with steady demand for loans, particularly in the $100K-$500K range. While major regulatory changes aren’t expected, the appointment of a new SBA administrator could influence future policies.

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Growth
February 4, 2025

The Future of the SBA Under a Pro-Business Administration

If executed correctly, the SBA under this administration could become the most impactful force for small business financing in decades.

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Growth
February 3, 2025

Why Tariffs Are Good for American Entrepreneurs and Capitalists: The Return to Economic Sovereignty

For entrepreneurs and capitalists, there has never been a better time to start or scale a business in America. The U.S. is on the cusp of an industrial resurgence, driven by tariffs, reshoring efforts, and a renewed focus on domestic production.

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Growth
January 22, 2025

Understanding Proposed Tax Changes: What Business Owners Need to Know

The U.S. tax code spans an impressive 3,500 pages. What might surprise you is that only about 30 of those pages focus on actually paying taxes. The remaining content is designed to incentivize business owners to deploy capital, create jobs, and provide essential resources like housing. But what happens when proposed changes threaten to shift the balance?

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Growth
December 3, 2024

The Ultimate Guide to Search Funds (2025 Edition):

Discover the transformative power of search funds with our comprehensive guide to entrepreneurial acquisition. Learn how search funds provide a unique pathway to business ownership by acquiring and scaling established businesses, offering both financial upside and meaningful impact. Explore key topics, including deal structures, transitioning from corporate roles, and how Clearly Acquired supports searchers with deal flow, financing, and expert guidance.

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Growth
December 2, 2024

How To Get My Business Ready for SBA Buyers

If you’re planning to sell your business, more specifically to SBA-qualified buyers, it’s essential to prepare well in advance. SBA lenders have specific requirements, and businesses that meet these criteria will attract more buyers and secure better deals.

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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