The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast

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In this video, I break down how to actually get an SBA 7(a) loan to buy a business in 2026: the 9 steps from having no lender to closing, plus every rule that just changed.

◼️ The one step where almost every first-time buyer loses their deal, and how to avoid it

◼️ How little of your own cash you actually need to put in now

◼️ The question a lender will ask that ends your call on the spot if you get it wrong

◼️ What one buyer did when her bank killed the financing the seller had agreed to, a day before closing

◼️ The rules that changed on October 1st, and which deals they now stop from ever happening

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://go.smbdealhunter.xyz/4e1d6fea

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In this episode, Justin breaks down how he went from losing his job to owning a $425K/yr landscaping company, why he first passed on it as too expensive, and how he bought it for $1.2M after his first deal died at the finish line.

◼️ How the business he couldn't afford came back on the market the same day his first deal fell apart

◼️ How he kept his paycheck after handing in his notice for a deal that never closed

◼️ How he bought a 40-year-old company with 10% down, and got the seller to wait 2 years for his first payment

◼️ How he fit 15 to 20 hours a week of searching around a full-time job and being a single dad half the week

◼️ Why he isn't paying himself yet, and the businesses he wants to add over the next 10 years

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Victoria breaks down why she left in-house roles at Airbnb and Twitter behind to buy a 30-year-old stove and chimney business near Lake Tahoe, how she got the seller to finance most of the deal, and what happened when she modernized a business that still ran on paper.

◼️ Why the seller's contractor license scared off most buyers, and how she solved it

◼️ What made her willing to buy a business she calls "super high risk" at a price under 2x what it earns in a year

◼️ The list of 5,000 past customers the old owner never advertised to, and what happened after one email

◼️ The interview with another business buyer that convinced her to hire a technician on day 1

◼️ How she and her wife split the work while she keeps her film production company running

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Michael breaks down how he went from losing his job to buying a marketing agency he'd never worked in, closing an off-market deal, and using AI to make the business more profitable.

◼️ Marketing agencies weren't even on his list, so what did he see in the books that convinced him to buy one anyway?

◼️ One seller was sure he'd never have the money. Hear the deadline he gave them that finally got the deal done.

◼️ He bought a $1.6M business with about $70K of his own cash down (much harder under today's SBA rules), and the sellers agreed to wait 2 years to get paid. He explains how the deal came together.

◼️ His team said one website job would take 2 more weeks. The accountant finished it in 2 days with AI.

◼️ Revenue is down, but profit is up 35% to 40% this year. He walks through what changed inside the agency.

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Chris breaks down why a tech CEO in his late 50s bought 2 territories of a hydraulic hose repair franchise, how he walked away from a $9M-a-year company at the 11th hour, and what it takes to launch a franchise from scratch.

◼️ The 4 banks that backed out of that deal, and why he walked even after the price dropped by $2M

◼️ Why he turned down 3 territories of a different franchise within 48 hours of visiting them

◼️ How he checked a franchise's real numbers when it wasn't allowed to show him its financials

◼️ What his $120K bought, and how it got him over the bar for an SBA loan

◼️ His 10-year plan to grow from 2 territories to ideally 3 or 4, then renew or sell

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Reagan breaks down how he bought a $1.5M plumbing company in 5 months without being a plumber, what his first year as an owner really looked like, and how he's growing it toward $2.15M a year.

◼️ The one question that convinced him to buy a $1.5M business instead of building one from zero

◼️ How he owns a plumbing company without a plumber's license, and his backup plan for when the arrangement ends

◼️ How a $379 drain cleaning call can turn into a $35K job

◼️ The $40K he spent on marketing that didn't work, and the lesson he took from it

◼️ The 2 costs he'd subtract from a seller's numbers before making any offer

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Mary breaks down how she and her husband Matt bought a Denver roofing, windows and siding company for just over $3M, why she kept her corporate job while Matt runs it full time, and what the first four months of ownership really looked like.

◼️ The company had run on referrals alone for over 10 years, doing $2M to $3M a year with no marketing at all

◼️ How they covered a purchase price just over $3M, and how much of it came out of their own pockets

◼️ What the broker told them about the other offers on the table, and why Mary wasn't convinced

◼️ How a company this size runs with one full-time employee and every trade subcontracted out

◼️ What the first four months of ownership actually looked like, including the one thing they still haven't been able to do

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Derrick breaks down why a laid-off finance guy bought a Seattle landscaping business, how he picked the industry by betting on what AI can't easily replace, and what the brutal first six months of ownership actually taught him.

◼️ The part of the business he never saw coming until he took over, and found himself doing four people's jobs at once

◼️ Why he closed the deal without the seller financing he'd always been taught to require, and what made him trust it anyway

◼️ How he lost this deal to another buyer, then won it back a month later

◼️ The AI tools and field software he used to run the business leaner than its previous owner ever did

◼️ Why the first six months had him asking why anyone does this, and the hire that finally turned it around

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (250,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Deborah breaks down why AI pushed her to start looking for a business of her own, how she and her husband closed on an $887K bath and kitchen remodeling company after 15 lenders turned her down, and what the first three months of actually owning it looked like.

◼️ The 18% drop in revenue that made 15 lenders in a row say no, and what she found when she pushed the seller for the real reason

◼️ Why she had ruled out franchises completely, and the one that changed her mind

◼️ How she put the down payment together, and the move that kept a lien off her house

◼️ Why the day she took over was one of the worst days for the people already working there

◼️ The two hours she spent building an AI setup that cut her proposal time in half

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (260,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

In this episode, Ronnie breaks down why he walked away from the company he'd run for 18 years to buy one that was finally his own, how he bought a $3.5M flooring company in Charleston without putting his wife or their paid-off home on the loan, and what it took to keep it running when the man who ran everything quit a month after closing.

◼️ The man who ran the entire company quit one month after closing, and why they now call it the best thing that could have happened

◼️ Why they spend nothing on marketing and still can't get the phone to stop ringing

◼️ How they closed their SBA loan one day before the government shutdown froze new SBA lending across the country

◼️ The imported tile that forced them to rip out a finished backsplash at their own cost, and the rule they made so it never happens again

◼️ What a longtime flooring rep told Ronnie he was doing that people with 20 years in the trade weren't

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/