Buy-Side Advisory 2024 Recap
2024 was a defining year for buy-side advisory. More corporate executives and entrepreneurs took the leap from employee to business owner, realizing that acquiring a business is the fastest and most direct path to financial freedom. But while demand surged, so did the noise—courses, coaches, and self-proclaimed experts pushing "education" instead of execution.
We took a different approach. We got deals done.
This year, we brought on 67 buying partners across 21 states. Of those who have been with us for at least 4.5 months, 100% have a deal under contract. Of those who have been with us for at least 7 months, 100% have a deal in lending or closed.
Across 2024, we:
Sourced 37,905 deals for our partners
Conducted 3,328 introductory and seller calls
Analyzed and vetted 2,394 full deal packages
Sent 205 LOIs, representing $416,021,875 in total deal value
We did this while maintaining one of the highest success rates in the industry—because unlike the gurus, we don’t just teach. We execute.
This recap breaks down key buy-side trends in 2024, how we engineered $0 buyer injection deals, and what 2025 has in store for those serious about buying a business.
2024 Buy-Side Market Trends
This year, the business acquisition space saw a major shift. More corporate professionals and entrepreneurs realized that buying a business is the fastest way to replace a six-figure salary—without spending years building something from scratch.
But with rising interest came increased competition, changing deal structures, and a flood of so-called "experts" selling courses instead of actual results. Here’s how the buy-side market evolved in 2024:
1. More Corporate Executives & Entrepreneurs Transitioning to Business Ownership
The traditional career path—climbing the corporate ladder for 30+ years—is becoming less attractive. More executives, managers, and skilled professionals are realizing that ownership offers:
More control over income and financial future
Faster wealth-building than a job or stock market investments
Immediate cash flow instead of waiting years for a business to turn profitable
Many of our buying partners this year came from high-paying jobs but saw acquisition as the smarter move to financial independence. The shift is clear: People aren’t waiting to retire—they’re buying their way into financial freedom now.
2. SBA Financing & Creative Deal Structuring Became Essential
With higher interest rates and more competition for good deals, financing strategies mattered more than ever in 2024. The biggest game-changer? Structuring deals with $0 buyer injection, meaning buyers didn’t have to put their own cash into the deal.
Lenders became more selective, but with the right deal structure, we consistently secured 100% financing for our partners.
Seller financing and earnouts played a bigger role in reducing buyer risk.
Creative structuring allowed buyers to eliminate personal capital requirements while still getting favorable terms.
Most people assume you need hundreds of thousands in cash to buy a business. That’s outdated thinking. The right structure can make nearly any solid business acquirable with little to no upfront capital.
3. More Demand for Done-For-You Acquisition Services
Buying a business isn’t as simple as picking one off a list. It requires:
Finding the right deal (which means sorting through thousands of bad ones).
Negotiating favorable terms that actually make sense.
Structuring financing to reduce risk and maximize cash flow.
This year, we saw more buyers moving away from DIY approaches and courses—realizing that having an experienced team handle everything from sourcing to closing is the difference between thinking about buying a business and actually owning one.
With the market shifting fast, execution became the deciding factor. Those who tried to figure it out themselves wasted months spinning their wheels. Those who worked with a real buy-side team got deals done.
Our 2024 Buy-Side Performance
While the buy-side market became more competitive in 2024, we focused on one thing: getting deals done for our partners.
The results:
We brought on 67 buying partners across 21 states.
Of those with us for at least 4.5 months, 100% have a deal under contract.
Of those with us for at least 7 months, 100% have a deal in lending or closed.
We sourced 37,905 deals, filtering out the noise to find real opportunities.
We conducted 3,328 introductory and seller calls to assess viable targets.
We vetted 2,394 full deal packages, analyzing financials, risks, and deal terms.
We sent 205 LOIs (letters of intent), negotiating a total of $416,021,875 in deal value.
Most importantly, every single deal in lending this year required $0 in buyer injection.
Meaning our buyers could keep their cash in their bank account or investments instead of putting their own cash into the deal—because we structured financing the right way, leveraging seller notes, lender mandates, and creative deal structures to eliminate upfront capital requirements.
Success in buy-side isn’t about “finding good deals”—it’s about engineering them.
The ability to turn “OK” deals into great ones, structure financing with zero out-of-pocket capital, and push deals over the finish line is what separated our partners from the thousands of buyers who got stuck in analysis paralysis this year.
With a 100% success rate for partners hitting key milestones, the numbers prove it—for serious buyers, the right team is the difference between closing a deal and wasting months on dead ends.
The Process Behind Closing $416M+ in Deals
Getting deals done isn’t about waiting for the perfect business to appear—it’s about engineering great deals from opportunities others overlook.
Here’s how we made it happen in 2024:
1. Sourcing the Right Opportunities
Most buyers waste months looking at broker listings that will never close. We took a different approach, leveraging direct outreach and proprietary sourcing methods to sift through 1,200+ deals every single week.
This high-volume sourcing ensured our partners had a constant pipeline of vetted opportunities, instead of chasing whatever was available on public marketplaces.
2. Turning "OK" Deals into Great Deals
A common misconception is that great deals are just found. In reality, they’re structured.
Many of the businesses we closed this year started as average deals that needed the right structure to work. We engineered better deals by:
Negotiating seller financing to shift risk away from buyers
Adjusting deal terms to improve post-acquisition cash flow
Identifying distressed sellers who were more flexible on terms
This approach allowed our partners to acquire cash-flowing businesses on their terms rather than waiting for a "perfect" deal that rarely exists.
3. Structuring $0 Buyer Injection Deals
Most acquisition programs assume buyers need six figures in personal capital to get a deal done. We proved otherwise.
By leveraging SBA lender mandates, seller notes, and structured financing, we helped our partners secure deals without putting their own cash at risk. Every single deal we put into lending in 2024 required $0 in buyer injection.
This strategy was a game-changer for buyers who thought they needed to save for years before making a move.
4. Handling Negotiations, Due Diligence & Financing
Most first-time buyers underestimate how complex a business acquisition really is. Finding a deal is just step one.
We handled every stage of the process, ensuring deals didn’t fall apart due to:
Seller uncertainty or last-minute renegotiations
Lender pushback on financing terms
Due diligence uncovering hidden risks
With experienced dealmakers, ex-private equity professionals, and ex-Big 4 consultants on our team, our partners avoided costly mistakes that derail most acquisitions.
5. Pushing Deals Over the Finish Line
The reality of buy-side M&A is that most deals die before closing. Our process is built to prevent that.
From the moment an LOI is signed, we work directly with lenders, sellers, and legal teams to keep deals on track. That’s why every partner who has been with us for at least 7 months has a deal in lending or closed.
For buyers who don’t want to spend years figuring it out on their own, this process shortens the learning curve and eliminates the guesswork.
2024 Success Stories: Deals We Engineered
The best deals aren’t just found—they’re structured.
Many of the businesses we helped acquire this year started as average opportunities that required the right negotiation, financing, and risk mitigation to turn into truly great deals. Below are two real examples of how we structured deals that most buyers would have overlooked.
Case Study #1: $580K Cash Flow Business – Owner Works 1 Hour a Day
Industry: B2B services
Purchase Multiple: 3.36x net cash flow
Buyer’s Capital Invested: $0
Time Commitment: 1 hour per day
This business had been under contract with another buyer before falling through in lending. The seller, now motivated to exit quickly, became open to creative structuring. Here’s how we turned this deal into a no-brainer:
Negotiated seller financing to act as the buyer’s equity injection
Pushed the lender to fund 100% of the deal based on industry strength and cash flow
Eliminated transition risk by structuring a post-close support period
The result? A business that nets $300K after debt service in year one. Even if the owner does nothing, it still cash flows $250K.
Case Study #2: Acquiring a Business While Keeping a W2 Job
Industry: Auto repair
Buyer’s Background: VP-level executive, wanted to buy but keep his job
Final Deal Terms: $1M purchase price, 70% SBA loan, 30% seller financing
Buyer’s Capital Invested: $0
About 30% of the buyers we work with want to acquire a business while keeping their W2 income.
The challenge? Most lenders don’t like it unless the deal is structured correctly.
One of our partners—a VP at his company—faced this exact scenario. He wanted to acquire a business but didn’t have enough liquidity to buy something large enough to replace his income right away.
His options were:
Wait 3-4 years while stacking assets, hoping for the right moment
Acquire now with the right team in place and build up his exit plan over 2-3 deals
Same time frame—but option #2 meant double the income by year 3, plus a significant net worth increase.
Four months after starting with us, we found the perfect opportunity:
An auto repair shop that was fully booked year-round with an owner who was already semi-absent, only managing the books.
After a month of negotiation, we structured the deal like this:
$1M purchase price (2.43x multiple)
70% SBA loan (covered all closing costs, due diligence, and fees)
30% seller note (two years no payments, then eight years at 0% interest)
$300K in working capital left in (covering nearly six months of expenses)
Three months of seller transition plus another six months at a reduced salary for support
Even with hiring a part-time controller, the deal will net the buyer $290K in year one—while keeping his W2 job.
Not bad for a deal where the lender required $0 buyer injection and the business itself funded its own acquisition.
These aren’t just stories—they’re repeatable strategies that we used across all our 2024 deals.
When you understand how to engineer a deal, you don’t need to wait for the perfect opportunity. You create it.
What We Expect in 2025
As we move into 2025, the buy-side market is set for more competition, tighter lender scrutiny, and an even greater need for execution over theory. Here’s what buyers need to be prepared for:
1. Lending Will Continue to Favor Well-Structured Deals
While SBA financing remains a powerful tool, lenders are getting stricter on deal approvals. The buyers who will succeed in 2025 are those who:
Know how to structure deals lenders will say yes to—not just rely on surface-level "good businesses."
Understand how to leverage seller financing and working capital to remove the need for personal capital.
Have a team in place to navigate lender requirements quickly before deals fall through.
The buyers who go at this alone? They’ll struggle. Lenders are moving away from blanket approvals and getting more selective—only the right structures will get funding.
2. More Buyers = More Competition for Strong Deals
2024 already saw a surge of executives and professionals looking to acquire businesses. In 2025, competition will only increase.
That means:
Great businesses will get snatched up faster—buyers who hesitate will miss out.
Sellers will have more options—which means the ability to negotiate better terms will be critical.
DIY buyers will struggle to keep up—without a team sourcing, vetting, and structuring deals, they’ll get stuck spinning their wheels.
This is why having a systematic deal pipeline will be the difference between closing in 2025 or still “looking for the right deal” in 2026.
3. More People Will Realize That DIY Cut It
The market is flooded with information—courses, masterminds, YouTube channels—but none of that replaces execution.
We expect to see even more buyers moving away from DIY approaches and working with teams who actually get deals done. The success rate difference is clear:
100% of our partners who have been with us for 4.5 months have a deal under contract.
100% of our partners who have been with us for 7 months have a deal in lending or closed.
100% of our deals in lending this year required $0 buyer injection.
Meanwhile, most DIY buyers will waste time, overanalyze, and miss their window.
2025: The Best Time to Buy is Before Everyone Else Does
With more buyers entering the space, the best deals will go to those who move first. The smartest buyers in 2025 will:
Get pre-qualified early to be ready when the right deal comes up.
Work with professionals who actually close deals instead of trying to figure it out alone.
Leverage structured financing so they’re not limited by personal capital.
The opportunity is there—but only for those who are ready to execute.
Ready To Do A Deal in 2025?
If 2024 proved anything, it’s that buying a business isn’t about finding the perfect deal—it’s about structuring and closing the right one.
We saw it firsthand:
67 buying partners onboarded across 21 states
100% success rate for partners in 4.5 months getting a deal under contract
100% success rate for partners in 7 months getting a deal in lending or closed
$416M+ in total deal value negotiated
100% of our deals in lending this year required $0 in buyer injection
While most buyers struggled, hesitated, or wasted time on DIY strategies, our partners closed deals that cashflow from day one—without putting their own money at risk.
In 2025, competition will grow. Deals will move faster. Lenders will tighten up. The only buyers who will succeed are those who take action with the right team behind them.
If you’re serious about buying a business this year, there are two options:
Keep “learning” and waiting for the right moment—while others close deals and build wealth.
Work with a team that handles everything for you—so you actually own a business instead of just thinking about it.
If you’re ready to buy a business in 2025, let’s talk.
👉 Start the process now: https://resource.regaliscapital.com/process