A fast, evidence-led second look at a small-business acquisition — before price, pressure and financing turn an interesting listing into an expensive commitment.
Start with a focused triage when time is short. Go deeper only when the deal survives the first pass and the next decision warrants more evidence.
For buyers deciding whether a live opportunity deserves an LOI, more questions or a clean pass.
For opportunities that survive triage and need a fuller commercial and financing-readiness review.
Speed comes from structured intake, rigorous extraction and parallel research. Judgment stays visible: key claims are checked, limitations are exposed and the final view is accountable.
Share the listing, available documents, buyer thesis and decision deadline.
Extract claims, numbers, gaps, contradictions and missing evidence.
Review market, competition, customer risk, licensing and financing context.
Build the scorecard, red flags, questions, scenarios and source ledger.
Verify material claims and issue a pursue / pause / pass view with caveats.
This interactive sample shows how messy inputs become a focused question list. Adjust the illustrative assumptions; the risk screen updates instantly.
A generic service business. No real company is represented.
Choose the depth that fits the decision. Each engagement is scoped around a specific deal, deadline and evidence set — without commissions or a promised transaction outcome.
48-hour triage: contradictions, risk map, buyer questions and decision view.
Five-day dossier with market checks, scenarios and financing readiness.
Two triages per month plus an active-deal review call.
Decline diagnosis, remediation sequence and alternative-path brief.
Adjust average fee, paid volume, operating cost and tax reserve. The model shows the resulting owner cash.
A post-denial review should explain the obstacle and the next route — never imply that approval can be manufactured. Different problems require different financing paths.
Obtain the lender’s reasons. Separate a fixable file problem from a cash-flow, eligibility, collateral or deal-structure problem. Then show the next best route and the work required.
SBA itself advises rejected applicants to ask which factors affected the decision and what could improve a future application.
Clean financials, explain anomalies, strengthen the repayment case and approach a lender whose credit box fits.
Adjust price, equity injection, seller note, earn-out or working-capital needs before trying the same request again.
Evaluate 504 for qualifying fixed assets, a microloan for smaller needs, a mission-oriented intermediary, conventional credit or seller financing.
If the debt case only works after heroic assumptions, the most valuable outcome may be avoiding the loan and the deal.
Short, evidence-led teardowns of the patterns that can hide inside an attractive listing. Issue № 1 examines a real $1.4M HVAC listing and the questions its headline numbers leave open.
Start with what the listing says — then separate reported performance from buyer-verified economics.
Ask whether customers, technicians, licenses or the owner carry more of the business than the summary admits.
Test whether relationships, capabilities and operating knowledge survive the seller’s departure.
Turn the gaps into a sequenced broker-and-seller question set before anchoring on price.
Market figures are dated snapshots, not live counters. The linked primary material supports the context behind the service; it does not replace deal-specific diligence.
Snapshot prepared October 7, 2026 from the linked sources. LOI Lens is not a lender, broker, CPA firm, law firm or investment adviser. SBA-related packaging or referral activity can trigger agent, fee-disclosure and other requirements; obtain current professional advice for the facts of your transaction. No loan approval or transaction outcome is promised.
Send the listing, your deadline and the decision you are trying to make. LOI Lens will reply with the right scope before any documents or payment change hands.