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Insights

What we tell owners and buyers before they commit.

Short, practical notes on the questions that come up most often on both sides of a transaction in Toronto.

For buyers

Five key points every buyer should investigate

Keeping a cool head is essential when buying any business. Plenty of opportunities look excellent at first glance and unravel once they are examined carefully.

Look hard at five things: the quality and consistency of earnings over several years, how concentrated revenue is among a handful of customers, whether the owner is the business or the business runs without them, the condition and remaining life of equipment and leases, and any licensing, environmental or regulatory exposure that transfers with the company.

None of these are deal-breakers on their own. They are price and structure conversations — as long as you find them before closing rather than after.

For buyers

Buying a business without traditional collateral

If you have ever applied for a mortgage, you know what collateral is: an asset pledged to secure a loan so the lender has a way to recover funds. Buying a business is harder, because much of what you are purchasing — goodwill, contracts, a trained team — is not something a bank can repossess.

That does not mean the deal is dead. Vendor take-back notes, earn-outs tied to performance, equipment and receivables financing, government-backed small business loans and equity partners all fill the gap regularly.

The practical move is to get the structure right before you make an offer, so your financing plan and your purchase agreement are telling the same story.

For buyers & sellers

What helps a business sale actually reach the closing table

Receiving an offer on your business is a milestone, but experienced buyers, sellers and advisors know an accepted offer is only one step. The real challenge is everything that comes after it.

Deals close when the financial records hold up under diligence, when landlords and lenders are engaged early rather than in the final week, when key employees and customers are handled thoughtfully, and when both sides stay solution-oriented about the issues that always surface late.

Momentum matters more than most people expect. The longer a transaction drifts, the more likely it is to fall apart — which is why active management from listing to close is the single biggest predictor of a completed sale.

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