How to Make a Smart Offer on a Business (When the Seller Won’t Name a Price)

👋 Welcome to Main Street Minute, your shortcut to Main Street acquisitions.

In this edition: How to make a smart offer on a business, 3 real deals to test your gut, and a meme that perfectly roasts every SMB newbie.

Plus: Ready to stop lurking and start doing? Check out our upcoming live events here.

Now let’s get down to business.

TOOL KIT

How to Make a Smart Offer on a Business (When the Seller Won’t Name a Price)

One of our Deal Coaches recently laid out a clear playbook for a situation almost every buyer runs into:

A seller says, “Just make me an offer…” but gives you no price, no valuation, and maybe not even basic financials.

Here’s how to respond with confidence and clarity.

Step 1: Get What You Need to Make an Offer

You can’t price what you can’t see.

Try this script:

At a minimum, ask for:

• A trailing 12-month P&L
• Balance sheet or list of key assets (vehicles, equipment, real estate)
• Ballpark revenue and SDE (Seller’s Discretionary Earnings)

Example:

You’re looking at a pool cleaning business. Ask:

• “How many active service accounts do you have?”
• “What does a typical monthly route bring in?”
• “Roughly what did you net last year?”

Even partial answers help you estimate.

Step 2: Do Napkin Math

You’re not trying to impress Goldman Sachs. You don’t need forensic accounting, just a directional number. Here’s a rough method:

SDE × Industry Multiple = Valuation Range

Example:

A landscaping biz does $200K in SDE.

At 3x SDE, that’s a ~$600K ballpark offer.

Step 3: Show Your Work

Here’s where most buyers mess up: they lowball without context.

Instead, explain. Frame your offer with three simple pillars:

1. Comps

Reference similar businesses to anchor expectations.

2. Math

Walk through your costs — debt payments, hiring, growth risks — to show how it affects what you can pay.

3. Blame the bank

Talk through how SBA loans and lender requirements cap what they’ll lend.

This approach makes it feel less personal and more like a smart, data-driven process.

Step 4: Negotiate

Don’t argue over small stuff. But hold your line on fundamentals.

Smart buyers don’t cave. They create options: seller notes, earn-outs, timing tweaks. Show you’re serious, not desperate.

This signals flexibility, without giving away leverage.

TL;DR: Don’t Guess, Show

Here’s what to do:

✅ Request key financials (P&L, balance sheet, rough SDE)

✅ Apply a simple multiple to estimate the value

✅ Present your logic, not just a number

✅ Negotiate by offering some creative options

DEAL BREAKDOWNS

Would You Buy These Businesses?

Every week, our members bring real deals to the table… and tear them apart with expert coaches.

We dig into the numbers, challenge assumptions, and sharpen strategy.

With hundreds of recorded calls in the vault, there’s no shortage of lessons.

Here’s a taste:

❄️ $3.5M Frozen Food Business

Lean, profitable, B2B frozen food biz with zero employees and high customer concentration. After nearly 40 years of business, this deal relies on decades of trust and one massive client. This buyer thinks he can grow it — would you?

Read the case study

‍💉 $360K Med Spa Business

Off-market deal. No clean financials. No real industry experience. But Olman and Jen hustled their way in, negotiated 75% seller financing, and 3X’d revenue from $370k to $1.25M. Could you do the same?

Read the case study

‍🛠️ $1.4M Plumbing Business

$3M revenue. $500K SDE. Strong team, but zero pre-close employee access and $400K in working capital needed. Could you pull off a smooth handoff with this biz?

Read the case study

👉 Read the full breakdowns, gauge the numbers, and decide how YOU’D move forward.

RUMBLINGS

3. Main Street Chatter

😮 Wait… this actually works? A clever way to get student help for SMBs. Read this.

👋 What if they all quit? How to prep for Day 1 walkouts. Read this.

💰 Read this or regret it: 18 ways brokers and sellers inflate prices. Study this.

🧠 Learn to buy a biz: From sourcing to closing, get the full roadmap to acquiring your first (or next) small business. Start here.

DOPAMINE HIT

The information contained here is educational, may not be typical, and does not guarantee returns. Background, education, effort, and application will affect your experience and the profitability of any business. Individual results may vary.