⚡ TL;DR:

Somewhere in every SBA loan package is one page that changes your life more than any other: the unlimited personal guarantee. If the business fails, the unpaid balance can become your problem personally. Until recently, there was very little you could do to insure that risk. That is starting to change.

This week's deep-dive explains personal guarantee insurance in plain English: what it covers, how claims work, what 80% coverage actually means on a $2M SBA loan, and the questions to ask before buying a policy.

Just as importantly, we break down what PGI does not cover, and where buyers can misunderstand the protection they are actually getting.

A multi-location family entertainment business in Dallas County, founded in 1996 and now spanning roughly 30 years of operating history. Revenue comes from walk-in play, parties, school groups, and corporate events. The listing describes a semi-absentee ownership structure: an experienced, long-tenured management team handles day-to-day operations across locations, supported by 37 employees. The owner is retiring.

The listing reports $2,633,822 of furniture, fixtures, and equipment plus $17K of inventory, a striking figure given that the stated FF&E value alone exceeds the $2M asking price. A $200K down payment is listed, which implies the seller expects a financed structure.

Why this deal stands out: At 2.5x SDE with modeled coverage of 2.79x, roughly $504K remains after a full note, and the 35% margin sits well above what most location-based entertainment prints. Three decades in one metro plus a management layer that already runs the floor is the combination semi-absentee buyers usually pay a premium for; here the multiple does not reflect one.

💡 EBIT Take: The NDA call defines this one, since the listing does not name the concept or the location count. Ask what the $2.63M of FF&E actually is and how it was valued, whether a general manager's salary is inside the $787K or added back, and what each location's lease looks like, because multi-site entertainment lives and dies on lease terms and remodel cycles. Attendance-driven businesses also deserve a month-by-month P&L to see how deep the summer and holiday peaks run.

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A residential landscaping company serving affluent northern Westchester County, New York since 1987. The business pairs recurring maintenance contracts with landscape installation, masonry, and drainage projects, and runs on a long-tenured, documented crew of 10 full-time and 1 part-time employees. The listing states the business is SBA prequalified and lender prequalified, and the retiring owner offers financing plus two weeks of transition training.

The one-acre operating property, with a 1,500 sq ft garage and a three-bedroom rental house, is available separately at $1.6M but is not required for the deal.

Why this deal stands out: SBA prequalification meaningfully reduces financing uncertainty before the first lender call, and a 34.5% margin on a maintenance-anchored book in one of the country's wealthiest residential markets is an attractive starting point. Nearly four decades of operating history with modeled coverage of 1.98x leaves about $290K after a full note.

💡 EBIT Take: Two weeks of training at 20 hours per week is a thin handoff for a relationship business, so negotiate a longer consulting tail before the LOI is signed. Ask what share of revenue renews as contracted maintenance versus one-off installs, how many of the ten crew members have been through a full season, and whether the $1.6M property can be optioned or leased rather than bought, since controlling the yard without the capital outlay changes the return math.

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A 20-year-old service business in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania built on recurring customers and established contracts. The public teaser is deliberately thin on industry detail, but the financing package is unusually complete: the deal is pre-approved for an SBA loan with a $173K down payment, and the bank financing includes a line of credit usable as working capital. The listing states no specific experience is required and models about $324K of first-year earnings after loan payments (that is the broker's own model; the ~$341K Earnings After Debt Service figure below comes from our standard screening structure, so the two will not match).

Why this deal stands out: At 2.7x cash flow with modeled coverage of 2.61x, this is the strongest financing story in the issue: SBA pre-approval, a $173K equity check, and a built-in working capital line mean a qualified buyer could be under LOI with the capital stack already framed. Contracted, recurring revenue on $3.17M of sales gives the earnings a base most sub-$2M listings lack.

💡 EBIT Take: The first NDA question is simply what the business does, and the second is what the contracts actually say: term, pricing escalators, and whether they assign to a new owner or must be re-signed. The broker's $324K first-year figure is their model, not yours, so rebuild it from the P&L. Rural Schuylkill County labor supply is worth a hard look too, particularly if the underlying contracts depend on a sizable hourly workforce.

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An asphalt paving contractor serving a large Oregon metro area for decades, with a balanced book of commercial and residential work and a customer base the listing says has grown over each of the past three years. The owner has delegated field operations, estimating, and day-to-day job management to staff, an unusual structure at this size in the trades.

Financials are cash-basis and consistent with tax returns: three-year average revenue of about $3.9M, three-year average SDE of about $751K, and 2025 SDE of $805,814. The price includes the owned equipment and vehicle fleet: pavers, rollers, excavators, dump trucks, and support trailers, plus the customer list, brand, website, and phone numbers.

Why this deal stands out: A 2.85x multiple on tax-return-consistent numbers, a fully owned fleet inside the price, and modeled coverage of 2.48x leaving about $481K after debt service. The delegation structure matters as much as the numbers: when estimating and field management already sit with staff, the buyer inherits a company rather than a job.

💡 EBIT Take: Paving is seasonal and backlog-driven, so ask for the current contracted backlog and how much of 2026 is already sold before pricing the growth story. Get the equipment list with years and hours, since fleet replacement is the real capex line in this trade, and confirm which metro this is, because seasonality, labor availability, and the competitive landscape can vary materially across Oregon markets. Cash-basis books also mean revenue timing needs a work-in-progress check.

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A Los Angeles women's apparel wholesaler supplying major big-box retailers since 1995, with business relationships across ten major retail accounts. The company runs from a 17,800 sq ft leased facility in the LA Garment District with 12 full-time employees and one independent contractor. The listing separately cites $7.5M in year-to-date sales without stating the period it covers (worth reconciling against the $6.42M full-year figure on the NDA call), shows $2.5M of inventory at cost and $125K of FF&E, and the retiring owner offers 30 days of training.

Why this deal stands out: Thirty years of big-box vendor relationships is the moat here, because getting onto those retail vendor lists from scratch takes years and a track record most new entrants cannot show. If the reported $2.5M of inventory is included in the asking price, the economics look materially different from the headline 3.3x cash-flow multiple, and modeled coverage of 2.13x leaves roughly $600K after a full note, the most post-debt earnings in this issue.

💡 EBIT Take: Ask for revenue by retail account first, since ten accounts likely means two or three carry most of the volume, and big-box relationships come with chargebacks, markdown allowances, and payment terms that compress the stated margin. Confirm exactly what conveys at close, especially whether the $2.5M of inventory is inside the ask or on top of it, and how much working capital the reorder cycle requires. If the product is imported, tariff exposure belongs in your model, and 30 days of training is short for handing over three decades of buyer relationships.

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A South Louisiana industrial valve remanufacturing and distribution company operating since 1975, serving an established customer base with 14 full-time employees. The $3M asking price includes the real estate, appraised at approximately $1.4M in 2023, plus FF&E and inventory (values available on request). The owner is retiring and training is available. The listing cites growth potential through expanded marketing, which the company has historically done little of.

Why this deal stands out: Net of the appraised real estate, the operating business is priced near $1.6M, about 2.7x cash flow for a 50-year industrial services business in a corridor where valve maintenance serves a large installed base of refinery and chemical infrastructure. This is the real estate anchor of the issue: nearly half the price is backed by an appraised hard asset.

💡 EBIT Take: The single-note model above understates what a lender would actually do here; ask to have the real estate underwritten on a 25-year amortization, which materially lifts coverage versus the 1.42x screening figure. Diligence the customer list for concentration among nearby plants, confirm which employees hold the machining and repair know-how that makes remanufacturing work, and get a fresh read on the 2023 appraisal, since industrial property in that corridor has moved since.

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A Nevada-based online performance auto parts business, nine years established in a niche market, generating $3.92M in revenue with just two people running the operation (the listing notes it could benefit from one or two more hires). The $2.25M price includes $400K of inventory and $20K of FF&E, and the business is relocatable.

Why this deal stands out: $3.92M of revenue run by two people is a statement about the operating model: disciplined sourcing and cataloging in a specialized niche. With $400K of inventory inside the ask, the effective price on the operating business drops meaningfully, and modeled coverage of 1.73x leaves about $232K after a full note with obvious room to add capacity.

💡 EBIT Take: Channel mix is the first NDA question: how much flows through the company's own site versus marketplaces, because platform-dependent revenue carries account-suspension risk that owned-channel revenue does not. At a 14% margin, freight, returns, and supplier MAP policies decide the economics, so pull the numbers on all three. This is also the deal in the issue where a first hire could change the operating model fastest; two people supporting $3.9M of sales suggests the current team may be running unusually lean.

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A Coweta County, Georgia residential construction platform founded in 2010, operating as three complementary entities under one roof: new-home construction, remodeling, and interior design. Nine employees cover administration, estimating, project management, field supervision, bookkeeping, and design, with production handled through an established subcontractor network. Growth has been referral-driven with little advertising, and the listing states a lender prequalification will be available for qualified buyers.

Why this deal stands out: Three integrated revenue streams give the company more ways to monetize the same customer and project base, although all three remain exposed to the residential construction cycle. At 3.2x SDE with modeled coverage of 2.18x, about $500K remains after a full note, and the internal staffing across estimating, PM, and supervision means the owner seat is management rather than tool-belt work.

💡 EBIT Take: Georgia residential contracting runs under a licensed qualifier, so establish who holds the license and whether they stay before the LOI. Ask how revenue and margin split across the three entities, since an 11.5% blended margin could hide a strong remodeling book subsidizing thin new-build work or the reverse, and get the WIP schedule to tie revenue to percent-complete. The subcontractor network is the production capacity; find out how many key subs have been with the firm through multiple projects and on what terms.

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