The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast

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In this episode, Ben breaks down how he left Apple after 13 years to buy 3 tech repair stores in Silicon Valley, how his 401k covered the 10% down payment, and what his first 45 days as an owner actually looked like.

◼️ The below-asking offer the seller turned down, and how it came back months later

◼️ Why the loan he owes the seller shrinks every hour his team works for customers who prepaid the last owner

◼️ How a neighborhood repair business runs gross margins above 70%

◼️ The client CEO who pushed to cut their IT contract before Ben even closed, and what he did about it

◼️ Why the last owner ran it from LA, and why Ben makes a 70-mile commute to be in the stores almost every day

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

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In this episode, Henry breaks down why he left real estate private equity at 29 to buy a 21-year-old HVAC company making about $1.8M a year in cash flow, how he won the deal without being the highest bidder, and what his first 2 months as an owner actually look like.

◼️ The pitch that won over the seller, built around what was on the table over 6 months versus 6 years

◼️ Why his $4.7M loan was too big to be simple for a government-backed small business loan and too small for most big banks, and what he'd do differently

◼️ How he bought a business in a trade he can't get licensed in anytime soon, and the question every lender kept asking him

◼️ Why maintenance plans that bring in just $175 to $350 a year are the key to making his company worth more

◼️ The 2 things that mattered more to him than the industry, and the one kind of business he'd never buy

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

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In this episode, Irving and Evgeniia break down how they bought a physical therapy clinic earning $1.3M a year in East Texas, why neither of them had to be a therapist to own it, and what it took to rebuild it in their first year.

◼️ The 3 weeks they had to replace the seller, their only therapist, after he walked out, and how they found the one who's still with them today

◼️ How revenue fell 50% in their first 6 months, and what they changed to grow it 15% past the previous owner's numbers

◼️ The paychecks written by hand and the referrals stuffed in drawers, and why Irving's 20 years of corporate habits became their biggest advantage

◼️ How a husband and wife take turns between the clinic and the kids, 4 hours apart

◼️ What they'd check before closing if they did it again, and why Irving tells new buyers to ask the seller to carry more of the loan

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

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In this episode, Alex breaks down how he went from 10+ years in corporate finance to buying a $1.1M/yr tent rental business with his wife, how they came up with the 10% down, and what his first 2 months as an owner have actually looked like.

◼️ Why he spent 2 months spinning his wheels with brokers, and what finally got him unstuck

◼️ Why the sellers picked him over another event rental company that made a similar offer

◼️ The 50-year-old printing business he got serious about first, and why he walked away

◼️ How a tent bought once for up to $100K can bring in about $15K in a single weekend

◼️ Why he's holding off on paying himself, even though the business can already cover his old salary

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/bb43896d

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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

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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

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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:
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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

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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

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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:
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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:
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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

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

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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:
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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

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In this episode, Amy breaks down how she bought an 18-person Los Angeles law firm clearing about $670K/yr with roughly 11% down, why she spent a year chasing HVAC and auto repair before she ever searched for a law firm, and what her first month as the new owner actually looked like.

◼️ The listing she passed on a year earlier, and the reason it came back

◼️ The question a friend asked her that had her searching law firms the next day

◼️ The 4 or 5 accepted offers that fell apart before this one, and what kept killing them inside 2 weeks

◼️ The bank with the better rates that almost cost her the deal, and who she closed with instead

◼️ What the firm's most senior person told her over dinner, days before she closed

Follow Helen:
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In this episode, Clem breaks down how he bought a $1M marketing agency with only 5% down, why the first year nearly broke it, and how he rebuilt it to run on just a few hours a week.

◼️ How he got the seller to finance a big chunk of the deal so he barely had to put any money in

◼️ The 30% revenue drop that hit within months of closing, and the month he sat frozen before acting on it

◼️ Why his fix for a shrinking business was to make it even smaller on purpose

◼️ How he pulled off the entire turnaround without ever quitting his day job

◼️ The second business he quietly built with the agency's own cash, and why he calls buying the agency his biggest mistake

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

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

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In this episode, Aaron breaks down how he left the real estate grind to buy an online business he can run from anywhere, the financing curveball that nearly killed the deal a week before closing, and what the first three months of actually owning it have really been like.

◼️ The niche so specific he says there's no other company like it anywhere, and why that is exactly what made him want to buy it

◼️ Why he walked away from years of flipping houses and holding rentals to go all in on a business he could run from a laptop

◼️ The $800K deal that almost fell apart when his bank pulled out a week before closing, and how he and his wife saved it in days

◼️ Why he is now working 60 to 70 hours a week on a business the previous owner ran in just 10

◼️ The honest truth about his first three months as an owner, including the slump most people never warn you about

Follow Helen:
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In this episode, Reid breaks down how he bought an $895k manufacturing business on Kauai, Hawaii without quitting the offshore job he'd worked for 15 years, and how he runs it from his home in Las Vegas.

◼️ Why he almost skipped the listing, and the conversation at home that changed his mind
◼️ Why the seller picked him over two other buyers who offered similar money
◼️ The state filing quoted at 15 days that took 10 weeks and put the whole deal on hold
◼️ The deal before this one, and what killed it after he'd already flown out to meet the seller
◼️ Why the roofing side of the business never worried him, and what did

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

In this episode, Kyle breaks down why he left a stable corporate career to buy his own company, how he funded the deal without an SBA loan or a bank, and what it took to close a deal that fell apart three times before it finally happened.

◼️ How he found the company at a basketball game, from an owner who wasn't even looking to sell
◼️ How he bought a business far bigger than he could afford, without an SBA loan or a bank, after pitching around 60 investors
◼️ The $40,000 he paid out of his own pocket that exposed a problem big enough to change the entire price
◼️ The night the deal collapsed at the signing table, and why he refused to walk away after it fell apart three times
◼️ How the competitor he set out to beat ended up funding the deal and merging into his company

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

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

In this episode, I break down how Jay went from 25 years on Wall Street to owning a plant leasing business that's been running for nearly 40 years and pays him $650K a year.

◼️ Why the biggest plants in a hotel lobby are rented and never sold, and how the same plant earns money at three different clients
◼️ The 10% he put down on a $2M business, and where the other 90% came from
◼️ Why a $500K business can be riskier to own than a $2M one
◼️ How he beat six other buyers without offering the most money
◼️ The profit hiding in the seller's books that the broker's numbers never showed

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

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