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
August 7, 2025

The Private Equity Secondaries Market Is Quietly Booming: What Investors Need to Know

The private equity secondaries market is experiencing explosive growth, driven by liquidity needs among LPs and strategic extensions by GPs. With record deal volume expected in 2025, secondaries are transforming from a niche solution into a mainstream tool for portfolio management and value creation. This article explores what’s driving the trend, how the major players are adapting, and what investors should watch next.

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Growth
August 7, 2025

SBA Loan Fees: Breakdown of Costs

SBA loans offer competitive financing for small business owners, but they come with a range of fees that can significantly affect your total borrowing cost. These include guarantee fees (up to 3.75%), closing costs (2–3%), servicing fees, and potential prepayment penalties—some of which vary by loan type and are updated annually. Understanding how these fees are calculated, when they apply, and how they compare between SBA 7(a) and 504 loans is essential to making an informed financing decision.

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Growth
August 7, 2025

Ultimate Guide to Seller Financing Default Remedies

When a buyer defaults on a seller-financed business deal, it exposes the seller to serious financial risks. This guide outlines how to prevent, detect, and respond to defaults — from drafting protective agreements and monitoring buyer performance to pursuing remedies like mediation, repossession, or litigation. Understanding state-specific laws, contract structures, and legal options is essential to protecting your investment and navigating these situations effectively.

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Growth
August 6, 2025

The Rise of Search Funds: Why Young MBAs Are Trading Corporate Ladders for Owner-CEO Roles

Search funds—also known as entrepreneurship through acquisition—are becoming a popular alternative to corporate careers for young MBAs and professionals. Instead of starting from scratch, searchers raise investor capital to buy profitable small businesses, step in as CEO, and grow them for a future exit. The path offers real ownership and wealth-building potential but comes with high risk, intense operational demands, and a steep emotional learning curve.

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Growth
August 6, 2025

Cold Outreach vs. Warm Leads: Email Strategies for Buyers

Cold outreach and warm lead strategies play distinct roles in SMB acquisitions. Cold outreach involves contacting prospects with no prior connection, requiring persistence, personalization, and multiple touchpoints, often with lower response rates and longer deal timelines. Warm leads, by contrast, are pre-engaged prospects who respond faster and convert more easily, making them higher-ROI but more resource-intensive to nurture. Balancing both ensures scalable outreach and efficient conversions.

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Growth
August 5, 2025

Why the Uptick in Upstream PE and M&A Signals a Loosening Market for Main Street Deals

Upstream private equity and mega-deal activity is surging, signaling renewed market confidence. As institutional capital flows, it typically migrates downstream, creating opportunities for Main Street buyers, sellers, and investors. Improved financing conditions and rising sentiment suggest that the next wave of lower-middle-market M&A could already be forming.

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Growth
August 5, 2025

How Machine Learning Detects Fraud in SMB Deals

Machine learning is revolutionizing fraud detection for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) by analyzing massive amounts of transaction data in real time to identify anomalies and emerging fraud patterns. Unlike manual reviews, these systems can process thousands of transactions in milliseconds, adapt automatically to new threats, and significantly reduce false positives. By combining supervised, unsupervised, and hybrid models, SMBs can better protect deals, cut operational costs, and respond faster to evolving fraud tactics.

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Growth
August 4, 2025

Accounting Reimagined: How Crete is Transforming Local CPA Firms with Venture-Backed AI Innovation

Accounting is entering a new era. Thrive Capital-backed Crete Professionals Alliance is transforming local CPA firms with a $500 million acquisition strategy powered by AI and founder-led operations. This model blends the trust of local expertise with the efficiency and scalability of technology, reshaping the future of professional services.

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Growth
August 4, 2025

Top 5 Industries for SMB Buyers in 2025

In 2025, SMB buyers are finding the best acquisition opportunities in five fast-growing sectors: AI and Automation, Digital Health and Telemedicine, E-Commerce, Green and Clean Energy, and Professional & Technical Services. These industries balance profitability, scalability, and recurring revenue potential, catering to different capital requirements and risk levels. Buyers targeting these sectors can leverage market momentum, technological trends, and government incentives to drive long-term growth and strong returns.

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Growth
August 4, 2025

Strategic Alliances: Key Opportunities for SMBs

Strategic alliances allow SMBs to grow faster by accessing new markets, sharing resources, and reducing risks without the cost of full acquisitions. These partnerships can accelerate innovation and expansion, but they require careful partner selection, clear agreements, and proactive risk management. Leveraging technology and platforms like Clearly Acquired can streamline partner discovery, deal management, and financing for successful collaborations.

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Growth
August 3, 2025

10 Best Invoice Factoring Companies for SMBs 2025

Invoice factoring is a fast, debt-free way for SMBs to turn unpaid invoices into immediate cash, helping to smooth out cash flow without taking on new loans. In 2025, the best factoring companies stand out for fast funding, high advance rates, flexible contracts, and transparent fees, making them essential partners in a tight credit market. Choosing the right provider can keep your business running smoothly and positioned for growth despite delayed customer payments.

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Growth
August 3, 2025

Checklist for SMBs Hiring in a Tight Labor Market

Small and midsize businesses are facing a tight labor market, with most struggling to find qualified candidates and retain top talent. To compete, SMBs need to focus on clearly defining critical roles, offering competitive compensation with non-monetary perks, speeding up their hiring process, and leveraging technology like applicant tracking systems. Streamlined onboarding, continuous training, and employee engagement programs can then help improve retention and build a stronger long-term workforce.

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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