In every corner of small business acquisitions, there’s someone trying to sell “certainty.” They’ll make a seductive promise that sounds something like: “Just buy a business with no money down, follow this step-by-step playbook, and you’ll become a successful owner overnight.” But anyone who’s spent real time in SMB M&A knows that deals don’t work that way. Unfortunately, there’s a gap between what people think they know and what actually matters. And that gap happens to be the natural habitat for charlatans. So how do you as a buyer determine who’s for real and who’s out to make a quick buck? We spoke with @redacted‌, an advisor with more than forty years of experience to see what we could learn. About The Original Business Buyer Advocate® Ted has dedicated his work to helping entrepreneurs buy small and midsize businesses the right way. As the founder of “Partner” On-Call Network, LLC and the originator of the Business Buyer Advocate® role, he’s guided thousands of buyers through the realities of dealmaking. He’s not a broker, just to be clear. Instead, Ted is a reliable guide who emphasizes patience, preparation, and good judgment. Ted aims to bring honesty to a process that’s too often clouded by hype. His work can be enjoyed in his books, such as How to Buy the Right Business the Right Way which reflects his lifelong effort to protect buyers from bad advice. Charlatans in SMB Mergers & Acquisitions The biggest risk for buyers and sellers of SMBs is that they don’t know what they don’t know. On top of that, much of what they know still isn’t as good as it could be. This gap in knowledge creates a fertile ground for charlatans and self-proclaimed “gurus” to pitch nonsense to gullible, sometimes vulnerable people. The “No-Money-Down” Myth One of the tell-tale signs of a scam is when it sounds too good to be true. Get-rich-quick scams are being pitched to people wanting to buy a business with “no money down.” Here’s a reality check: In 40 years of advising buyers, Ted has not seen or heard of any no-money-down acquisitions of a worthwhile SMB. The key word here is “worthwhile.” While it’s not impossible for such deals to occur, they require an extremely high degree of expertise and commitment to find and execute. Most of the time, people cannot make a no-money-deal turn into a successful venture. They end up just wasting their time and money. In contrast, Ted has seen plenty of worthwhile deals done by buyers who used a small amount of their own cash upfront. Deals can still be affordable so long as they are combined with highly motivated sellers and creative financing. Three Kinds of Charlatans to Avoid There are three main types of charlatans operating in the SMB M&A space: Bogus Course Pitchers: These are business people who pitch bogus how-to courses and advice. They often adapt content from legitimate books to sell their get-rich-quick schemes. As we’ve written before, there is plenty of information out there on the web about M&A. While there is some advantage to paying a premium for gatekept information, you’ll typically find yourself consuming content that is a repackaging of something that was free in the first place. For example, Ted alluded to one such “expert” that lacked M&A experience. The “expert” simply bought Ted’s books and rebranded himself as a guru, selling seminars and monthly assistance plans. Influencers Without Experience: Along the same vein, there are influencers who lack the experience to back up their “newly-discovered” information. A key way to recognize them is by their social media content: Do they only post feel-good slogans or link to articles written by other dealmakers? When I see this sort of content, I like to dig in rather than shut it off. What ends up happening is that I find an original, thoughtful source buried under all the noise. If all someone does is quote other people, maybe it’s time to listen to the people they’re quoting. Underprepared Searchers: The term “searcher” is a potential buyer looking for a business to acquire. It’s used heavily in the ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition) world. While the ETA world is relatively small, it has recently become very popular, leading to terms like “search” and “ETA” becoming commonplace. As a result of all the recent hype, people in this group might set up their pitch decks, websites, and LinkedIn profiles to appear as if they have a ton of experience. In Ted’s experience, many of these dealmakers tend to be first-time buyers overselling their experience.