If you’re buying a business with SBA financing, you’ll almost certainly be signing a personal guarantee on millions of dollars of debt. It’s worth being clear-eyed about before you do. A few things I’d want every searcher to work through first: 1. Know what enforcement would look like where you live. Homestead protections, retirement account protections, and personal property exemptions vary a lot by state. Most searchers never map this out. Do it with your own attorney before you sign, not after. 2. Make sure your spouse is fully aligned. Many lenders now require a separate spouse signature, and brokers will ask whether your spouse knows you’re pledging the house. It’s an uncomfortable conversation, and a much better one to have early. 3. Protect your personal liquidity. Lenders increasingly look at the guarantors’ own cash after closing, separate from the deal itself. Have more than the minimum, because when things go bump in the night, that cash is what lets you stay calm. 4. Put more cash on the balance sheet at close than the model says you need. In the Excel model, extra cash slightly reduces returns. In reality, it determines how large an unexpected problem your business can absorb in the first year or two, and it’s the best protection for the guarantee you’re about to sign. Raising capital after close can feel impossible when you need it most, and a line of credit can vanish. Cash is the only thing that reliably shows up. This is also where the right equity partner earns their place. For operators who have performed well, we’ve been able to help put more cash on the balance sheet, which has let them pay back their personal guarantee early. A guarantee doesn’t have to be a ten-year weight on your shoulders. That said, a personal guarantee makes you more attractive to an equity partner, not less. When you have your own personal downside on the line, our incentives are aligned. We win when you win, and neither of us wants to see the business struggle. None of this means you shouldn’t do it. It means the people who do it well treat the guarantee as a risk to be managed, not a formality. Reagan Beecham’s post in the Plus section below is a good example of the risk and reward that come with it. Partner Perspective: This month’s partner feature is a one-time addition on a topic we don’t discuss nearly enough: marketing. Most new owners are well-prepared for the financial reality of owning a business. Very few are prepared for what happens to the pipeline when the seller walks out the door. We’re hearing from Natalie Eagling, CEO of Madison Taylor, a Denver-based brand and growth marketing consultancy that works specifically with family-owned and recently-acquired businesses. What makes them worth listening to: Madison Taylor was itself acquired, and Natalie stepped in as operator. They’ve lived the post-close journey firsthand. Every engagement starts with a free pipeline audit, then builds one integrated marketing system that turns the business you bought into the business you’re growing. Natalie Eagling, Madison Taylor: The Post-Close Surprise Nobody Warns You About Buyers walk through months of due diligence and QoE - client concentration, working capital, all of it. The one thing rarely covered? Marketing. Specifically, whether the pipeline - the lead flow, referral relationships, and conversions - survives once the seller has actually left. Because usually, they’re 100% reliant on the previous owner’s name. Their reputation. Their friendly voice at the end of the phone. Their face at the local event every year. A new owner doesn’t come in with a fanfare. But in small business, it’s noticed. And so the business slows. When I met C, he’d bought a painting company almost a year earlier. One line of code (a “noindex” tag) was telling Google to ignore his entire website. It was a five-minute fix - but one that could have quietly cost him the business. G bought a small HVAC company and found three different logos across his vans, website, and invoices. No wonder his local audience wasn’t responding. I could tell many more stories that boil down to the same problem statement: a brilliant owner who’s finally closed the deal and is now stuck, and can’t quite say why. Perhaps that’s you. Having operated acquired businesses ourselves, we narrowed it down to five pillars which, once fixed, create momentum and growth for acquired businesses: 1. Your story. Is your story clear? Does someone truly understand who you are and what you do, and what makes you different from any other business offering the same service? 2. Getting found. If someone searched for what you do right now, would they find you? Many legacy businesses never prioritized visibility. Fix this, and inquiries start to roll. 3. Building trust. Trust doesn’t transfer with the sale. You have to start building your own. Customers need to know your work is as good - or better - than your predecessor. 4. Closing deals. The one everyone fixates on, and for good reason. But if this is broken, it’s usually a symptom of one of the other four. 5. Knowing what works. Most new owners have a strong understanding of their numbers. But few know where leads are actually coming from, which sources are most valuable, and where to double down. Attribution and tracking are tough in small business - but necessary. Miss one and the rest struggle. No story, and no one remembers you. Not found, and no one knows you exist. No trust, and nothing converts. No tracking, and you never know why. You did due diligence on everything else. Do it on your pipeline too. I’ll walk through all five pillars with you in a free 30-minute pipeline audit, and you’ll leave knowing which one to fix first. Email me at redacted class="mx-1 rounded bg-gray-500 text-gray-500">redacted