Six Things to Do Now If You Want to Buy a Business in 2026

As we enter the final stretch of the year, something shifts.

Fewer meetings. More reflection. More long walks and quiet conversations. The pace slows just enough to ask bigger questions.

For some, that reflection surfaces a simple but powerful question:

Is 2026 the year I seriously pursue buying a business?

If that question is rattling around in your head right now, let me tell you what I wish more people understood: buying a business doesn't happen overnight.

The best acquisitions I've seen weren't born from sudden inspiration - they were the result of deliberate preparation that started well before the buyer ever submitted an LOI.

This year alone, our team at Pioneer Capital Advisory has helped clients close over $124 million in SBA 7(a) acquisition financing.

Across those transactions, one pattern has emerged consistently: the buyers who moved through the process with the most confidence and the fewest surprises were the ones who had done the foundational work before they ever found their deal.

If you're planning to kick off a serious business search in 2026, here are six foundational steps I'd strongly recommend taking now, while you still have the breathing room.

1. Have an honest conversation with your significant other.

This step gets skipped more often than you'd think, and candidly, it becomes a fault line later.

I've watched multiple deals unravel, not because of financing, not because of diligence issues, but because a spouse was never fully aligned with the decision to buy a business in the first place.

Sometimes it surfaces during diligence, when the financial stress becomes real. Sometimes it comes up right before closing, when the gravity of the personal guarantee sets in. And sometimes it doesn't show up until six months post-close, when the new owner is working 60-hour weeks and family life has been upended.

Buying a company isn't an individual endeavor. It's emotional. It involves real financial risk. It can temporarily disrupt income stability, stress levels, and family routines. Whether the business succeeds or struggles, the impact is shared.

The conversation doesn't have to result in immediate alignment. But it needs to happen early. Talk through the financial implications. Discuss what success looks like and what failure would mean. Be honest about the time commitment, the uncertainty, and the tradeoffs.

Treat this decision as a joint process from the beginning. That alignment creates resilience when pressure inevitably shows up.

2. Define your requirements around geography, deal size, and industry.

Clarity here saves enormous amounts of time and frustration.

I see too many searchers cast an impossibly wide net at the beginning.

"I'm open to anything, anywhere"

only to realize six months in that they've been chasing deals they'd never actually close. Geography matters. Your spouse's career matters. Proximity to aging parents matters. School districts matter if you have kids.

If you're targeting a small or secondary market with limited sell-side broker coverage, be realistic about what that means. You'll likely see fewer on-market listings. Finding the right opportunity may require heavier buyer-led outreach, cold calls to business owners, and sophisticated off-market sourcing strategies.

On deal size, understand how EBITDA thresholds interact with SBA lending limits.

The current SBA 7(a) maximum loan amount is $5 million.

That typically translates to businesses with roughly $1.5 million to $2 million in adjusted EBITDA at the upper end, depending on structure. If you want to pursue larger opportunities, you'll need to consider conventional financing, SBIC funds, or equity co-investment structures.

Geographic flexibility, deal size expectations, and industry preferences all interact. Narrowing one dimension often requires expanding another. Want to stay in a specific metro area? You may need to be more flexible on industry. Have your heart set on a particular sector? You might need to widen your geographic aperture.

Be honest about those tradeoffs early. It makes your search more intentional and far more productive.

3. Decide which acquisition model you're actually pursuing.

This is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make, and yet I'm constantly surprised by how many people drift into a model without truly understanding the implications.

There are meaningful differences between self-funded searches using SBA financing, traditional fund-backed searches, and independent sponsor structures. Each has distinct economics, timelines, risk profiles, and lifestyle implications.

The self-funded SBA model typically involves

• Personal guarantees
• Hands-on ownership
• Constraints around maximum borrowing amounts.

You're underwriting the business yourself, often alongside a Small Business Administration-approved lender.

You'll typically retain majority ownership, though many buyers bring in equity partners to help fund the down payment or add strategic value. SBA loans require personal guarantees, which means your personal assets are on the line.

The SBA model rewards operators who want to be deeply involved in the business, who have strong transferable skills, and who are comfortable with meaningful personal financial exposure.

The traditional search model requires raising capital well before acquiring a business. You'll spend six to twelve months:

• Networking with individual investors
• Presenting your search thesis
• Securing committed capital.

It involves extensive relationship-building and an acceptance that ownership will be shared, often with the searcher holding a minority stake post-close, typically 20-30%.

The tradeoff:

Scale, institutional backing, a built-in board of experienced operators and investors, and usually no personal guarantee. You're also getting paid a modest salary during the search itself, which creates different cash flow dynamics than a self-funded approach.

The independent sponsor model tends to work best for buyers with deep industry experience and/or prior deal experience. You're essentially raising capital deal-by-deal, rather than fund-by-fund.

For first-time buyers without significant operating credibility or a strong track record, this can be a challenging path. Investors typically expect independent sponsors to bring proprietary deal flow, industry expertise, or operational value-add that justifies their involvement.

There's no universally "right" model. But there is a right model for you—and that depends entirely on your risk tolerance, your financial position, your operating style, and what you're optimizing for.

4. Begin building relationships with the right service providers and capital sources.

One of the biggest mistakes I see first-time buyers make is waiting until they have a deal under LOI to start identifying their transaction team. By that point, you're already behind.

Attorneys, quality of earnings providers, lenders, and equity investors all sit along a continuum. Some operate across multiple deal types. Others specialize heavily in either self-funded or traditional transactions. The lender who's fantastic for a traditional search fund deal may have zero appetite for SBA transactions. The attorney who crushes $50 million private equity add-ons may be wildly overpriced and operationally mismatched for a $3 million SBA acquisition.

One misconception I see constantly among self-funded buyers:

the belief that they must work with large national law firms or big-brand diligence providers.

In SBA-financed acquisitions, that choice usually results in $75,000 to $150,000 in legal fees instead of $25,000 to $40,000 - without meaningfully improving outcomes.

SBA deals have specific regulatory requirements, and the best attorneys for these transactions are specialists who understand SBA Standard Operating Procedures, personal guarantee structures, seller note subordination requirements, and lender-specific quirks.

Similarly, quality of earnings work for a $2 million EBITDA business doesn't require a Big Four accounting firm. A skilled regional QofE provider who understands the nuances of small business financial statements will often deliver better value at a fraction of the cost.

Matching the service provider to the deal structure matters more than brand recognition.

Start building these relationships now. Take intro calls with SBA lenders. Meet with M&A attorneys who specialize in lower middle market deals. If you're pursuing a traditional search, begin conversations with search fund investors. Understanding who's in your corner, and what they bring to the table, creates enormous confidence when you eventually do find a deal.

5. Get clear on your personal cash burn and available liquidity.

This is where theoretical interest in buying a business collides with financial reality.

Understanding your monthly personal burn rate and your true liquidity position is critical. I've seen too many searchers get deep into a process only to realize they don't have enough cash to sustain themselves through diligence and closing, let alone fund the equity contribution required by the lender.

Whether you're pursuing a self-funded SBA deal or an independent sponsor transaction, capital matters in two ways.

First, you need cash to fund diligence, legal work, and deal execution costs. A typical SBA-financed acquisition will require $30,000 to $60,000 in out-of-pocket transaction costs before you ever get to closing (legal fees, quality of earnings, environmental assessments, appraisals, travel, and more).

If you're running a traditional search, your personal burn during an 18-month search could easily be $60,000 to $100,000 depending on your lifestyle and geographic location, even with investor capital covering salary.

Second, you need capital available for the equity contribution. In SBA deals, lenders typically require 10% equity injection from the buyer, though that percentage can vary based on the deal structure, the business's cash flow stability, and the lender's risk appetite. On a $3 million acquisition, that's $300,000 in cash equity. On a $5 million deal, it's $500,000.

The size of the deal you pursue, combined with the liquidity you personally have, will directly influence how much capital you need to raise and from whom. If you have $200,000 in liquid savings, you're likely targeting smaller acquisitions or bringing in equity partners. If you have $750,000 available, your opportunity set expands significantly.

Ignore this math early, and you'll face painful recalibration later—often right when you've found a compelling business and don't want to lose momentum.

6. Think deeply about your transferable skills and ownership style.

Here's a question I ask every prospective buyer I meet: Are you someone who wants to be boots on the ground—deeply operational, involved in day-to-day execution - or are you more naturally a facilitator, leader, and capital allocator?

Your answer should heavily influence both the model you choose and the type of business you target.

If you're a former management consultant with strong analytical skills but limited operational experience, buying a highly technical manufacturing business that requires deep industry knowledge may set you up for failure. Conversely, if you spent fifteen years running operations for a regional HVAC company, you probably don't need to buy a SaaS business where your hard-won expertise is irrelevant.

I also see misalignment around ownership style. Some buyers are energized by being the primary operator—the person making daily decisions, managing employees, solving customer problems, and driving execution. Others are better suited to a more strategic role - setting vision, managing leadership teams, and allocating resources. Neither is better or worse. But misalignment here is one of the most common sources of buyer burnout I see.

The searcher who wants to be a strategic CEO but buys a business that requires an operator ends up frustrated and overwhelmed. The hands-on operator who buys a business that really needs a capital allocator gets bored and disengaged.

Spend time now thinking about what energizes you, where your skills genuinely transfer, and what kind of day-to-day reality you're built for. If you're not sure, talk to people who've made the leap. Shadow a business owner for a week if you can. The clarity is worth the effort.

For pre-LOI buyers ready to explore opportunities: Schedule a meet & greet call​

Already have a deal under LOI and need financing help: Schedule an LOI consultation​

Matthias Smith​
Pioneer Capital Advisory LLC

Disclaimer: The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal or financial advice. Business buyers are encouraged to consult with their legal counsel and accountant to ensure the proper structuring of their transactions and to fully understand the tax implications of seller financing.

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