Hello Friends!
In this week’s issue of What I Learned Last Week:
📰 Articles
🧵 Online Highlights
🤔 Other - Seller Cold Feet
🗓️ Events
⚒️ Tools & Resources
💡 How I Can Help
This issue of The Business Inquirer is brought to you by:
Connecting Deal Sponsors with Investors
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📰 Articles
I summarize, so you capitalize.
SMB Acquisition Due Diligence — My Cost-Effective Playbook
Kin Meng Sio shares a practical guide for conducting cost-effective due diligence in small business acquisitions, based on his personal experience as a first-time buyer. He highlights the importance of using free resources, carefully selecting vendors, and keeping sellers engaged throughout the process to reduce costs and ensure thorough evaluations. Notably, he recommends platforms like DueDilio for finding reliable legal and financial service providers.
Key insights include:
Leverage Free Resources Early: Use platforms like Searchfunder and Contrarian Thinking to access deal flow, request initial documents, and build due diligence skills.
Strategic Vendor Selection: Interview multiple providers and use tools like ChatGPT for structured outreach; DueDilio and Searchfunder are recommended for sourcing vetted experts.
Maintain Seller Engagement: Use shared trackers, batch document requests, and schedule regular check-ins to maintain positive seller relationships.
Tailored Due Diligence Approach: Choose flat-fee legal services and opt for focused, lighter Quality of Earnings reviews, especially for SBA-backed acquisitions.
Comprehensive Risk Assessment: Address HR and insurance considerations early, engaging specialists to uncover risks and meet financing requirements.
Evaluate Due Diligence Providers: Research vendor backgrounds to avoid unreliable or unethical providers.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
The High-School Juniors With $70,000-a-Year Job Offers
With skilled labor in short supply, many employers are proactively partnering with high schools to cultivate future workers, especially in trades like welding, plumbing, and HVAC. Schools like Father Judge High in Philadelphia are becoming key talent pipelines, offering vocational programs that provide students with real-world experience and direct-to-work opportunities—many with starting salaries of $50,000–$75,000 and no college debt.
For small business buyers, especially those acquiring trade-based companies, these partnerships highlight a sustainable, high-impact hiring strategy.
Key insights for small business buyers:
Talent Pipeline Development: Partnering with high schools can ensure a steady flow of skilled, motivated young workers—critical for industries facing labor shortages.
Cost-Effective Recruitment: Engaging students early helps reduce recruiting costs and allows businesses to evaluate candidates before hiring full-time.
Training as a Competitive Edge: Offering part-time work, internships, and academic credit can distinguish your business and foster long-term loyalty.
Strategic Workforce Planning: Buyers should assess how a target business is addressing future hiring needs and consider embedding similar educational partnerships.
🧵 Online Highlights
I scroll, so you don’t have to.
Waiting for the “perfect time” to buy or launch? That’s how you end up teaching, not leading — bet on yourself before it’s too late…
Why do HVAC businesses sell for 8x EBITDA? Because to PE giants trading at 17x, even pricey add-ons look like a bargain…
For consumer-facing businesses, this may be the toughest market since the Great Financial Crisis…
Every one of the (self-reporting) top 25 landscaping companies is PE-owned or public..
🤔 Other
Seller Cold Feet
At DueDilio, we’ve noticed a growing trend: deals falling apart not because of the buyer — but because the seller backs out.
Whether it’s emotional attachment, second thoughts on valuation, or just poor communication, it’s frustrating — and costly.
Quick tips to protect your time and sanity:
Build rapport early. Sellers are less likely to back out on someone they trust.
Gauge commitment. Ask about their motivation to sell and timeline — get specific.
Keep momentum. Long delays = second thoughts. Keep the deal moving.
Use deal “checkpoints.” Small wins (site visit, diligence kickoff, draft LOI) reinforce progress.
Get exclusivity only if they're serious. Don’t fight for a signed LOI if they’re still wavering.
If a seller’s ghosting or dragging their feet, trust your gut — and move on.
🗓️ Events
INSEAD ETA Conference (May 10) - Fontainebleau, FR
Mittelstand Summit 2025 (May 20) - Berlin, Germany
Main Street Summit (Nov 4-6) - Columbia, MO
🎵 Listening: “Old Thing Back“ by Ja Rule, B.I.G., Matoma, Ralph Tresvant 🎵
How did you like this issue of the newsletter?
⚒️Tools & Resources
I want to share some tools & resources that I have found helpful. Please note that some of these are paid sponsors or affiliates of the newsletter.
PrivSource - PrivSource helps you source deals and connect with transaction partners without ever paying a success fee.
X5 Deals - Proprietary deal sourcing for a great price. They do the tedious and time-consuming job of deal sourcing so you can spend more time on DD and closing.
Rejigg - Platform that connects searchers/investors directly with owners of off-market small businesses ($200k - $3M EBITDA) considering exits. All deals are sourced by the Rejigg team. Their team adds 15 to 20 new deals each week.
Kumo - 100,000+ deals sourced from thousands of brokers and marketplaces. Plus, AI-powered listings, robust data & analytics, and more.
BizNexus - Marketplace + off-market origination in one platform. The marketplace averages about 10k active listings & pre-CIM opportunities, and the off-market origination focuses on data & multi-channel.
Secret - Say goodbye to overspending on SaaS. With Secret, you get access to up to $1,000,000+ in savings on the best software to run your search, operate, and scale your business.
Deal Sourcing Guide (2025) - Discover 100+ platforms to supercharge your deal flow and find your perfect acquisition target—from flagship marketplaces to AI-powered deal sourcing tools, all updated for 2025.
💡 How I Can Help
Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways for us to work together…
Schedule 1:1 consulting on deal sourcing, due diligence, M&A ecosystem, newsletters, entrepreneurship, or anything else you’d like to discuss
Promote your brand to business buyers, investors, SMB owners, and other M&A participants by sponsoring this newsletter
Assemble your M&A deal team with DueDilio
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