Buying Small, Solo or Investors? (Canada)

Hi everyone, I’m currently running a self funded search and am curious to hear from those to have bought or invested in $300k-$1.5M EBITDA or $1.5-5M EV businesses. One of the reasons I’m doing the self funded approach is to avoid the increasingly competitive market that traditional searchers and lower market PE/holdco structures are targeting while maintaining better ownership economics. My thesis is to acquire small, where the opportunity for outsized impact is large and near term, and where I can install systems to transform an owner-operated business into something scalable. I’m targeting businesses that can deliver strong returns at steady state with an opportunity for outsized returns from top line growth and eventually platform building through M&A or greenfield expansion. With that said, while I could possibly fund an acquisition in my own if I push hard on terms, I believe having 1-2 investors would make the journey much smoother. Am I falling into angel category here? Welcome thoughts from others who have acquired something small or those who have invested as well.