How To Buy a Business From Someone Even if Not For Sale

What’s Included In How To Buy a Business From Someone

Step 1: Using Seller Finance (or Deferred Consideration) To Buy a Million-Dollar Business

Most people believe they can’t buy a million-pound business because they don’t have the money—but the reality is quite the opposite.

Once you understand how to use seller finance (also known as deferred consideration), where the owner and the business help fund the deal—everything changes. You’ll learn how the business’s liabilities can fund the deposit, and how its future cash flow can repay the remaining balance.

This is step 1 where your journey truly begins. Watch this first module carefully, because once you grasp this concept, not having money will no longer be the thing that holds you back.

This is your starting block. Let’s get you on the path to owning your million-dollar business.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this step to buy a business from someone:

• ✅ Why seller finance is the most important first step to kick-start your entrepreneurial journey.
• ✅ How to finance a million-pound business using the business you’re buying to pay for itself.
• ✅ Why I recommend 100% seller finance (also called deferred consideration).
• ✅ Why businesses earning £100,000+ in annual profit are ideal acquisition targets.
• ✅ Why more profitable businesses are actually easier to fund through seller finance.
• ✅ This step builds confidence that you can buy a million-pound business.
• ✅ The key differences between seller finance and bank lending.
• ✅ How bank finance is often riskier and more expensive—for both buyer and seller.
• ✅ How to leverage the business’s own cash & bank, and how to buy a business using its own cash.
• ✅ How to structure a deal using seller finance or deferred consideration.
• ✅ Other sources of funding that can support your deal while also protecting you.
• ✅ How to use a special acquisition company to buy the business.
• ✅ And yes—you’ll even learn how to buy a million-pound business with just £1.

At the end of this step, you’ll know how to fund the purchase of your very own million-how to buy a business using its own cash business.

Step 2: Finding Million-Dollar Businesses To Buy Even a Business That is Not For Sale

Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Business Brokers

Business brokers can often get in the way of a good deal. In many cases, they slow down the process, add unnecessary layers of complexity, and can make negotiations harder than they need to be.

That’s why I teach you smarter alternatives to find million-pound businesses without going through brokers—giving you a better chance of securing a great deal, often with less competition and more flexibility.

The truth is, the more places you know to look, the higher your chances of success—and the faster you’ll be able to buy your own million-pound business, potentially right in your local area.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this step of how to buy a business from someone even if its not for sale:

• ✅ How to find businesses that are not for sale.
• ✅ How to quickly research and evaluate businesses for sale online or with a business broker.
• ✅ How to choose the type of business to buy.
• ✅ Learn about the types of business to avoid.
• ✅ Normal markets vs growing markets vs declining markets.
• ✅ How to quickly assess a business.
• ✅ How to deal with business brokers.

By the end of this step, you’ll know exactly where to look, what to avoid, and how to take control of your business search—without waiting for brokers or wasting time.

Step 3: How to Value a Million-Pound Business (So You Don’t Overpay)

Knowing how to value a business is a crucial step in buying a million-pound business from someone—and it’s what helps you avoid overpaying.

There are two key parts to valuing any business:

• Its financial performance.
• The underlying characteristics of the business (and its owner).

Both play a big role in understanding its true worth.

• You’ll learn what financial information to request;
• How to read the business’s profit and loss;
• How to understand balance sheets;
• Get to grips with cash flow;
• How to interpret these figures correctly.
• Plus, how to buy a business calculator template is included to make this process quick and easy.

That’s why this step focuses on giving you the tools to confidently assess a business’s financial health (with access to AcquiCalc to calculate its value and how to finance the acquisition).

But numbers alone aren’t enough. You’ll also discover the key characteristics that affect a business’s value—things like:

• Owner dependency - How dependent the business is on the owner massively affects a business's value, and it will impact you hugely if you buy this type of business;
• Customer loyalty - Discover why it's important you uncover whether customer loyalty is to the brand or to the owner?
• Team strength - The stronger the team, the easier it becomes to buy a business in a sector you don't know, which makes it quicker and easier for you to become a business owner;
• Business systems, and more.

Once you understand these, you’ll know exactly what to look for and what questions to ask.

We dive deeper into how to uncover these characteristics in Step 4, so you can make informed decisions and negotiate like a pro.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this step of how to buy a running business:

• ✅ What financial information to ask for about a running business.
• ✅ How to interpret business financials.
• ✅ Methods of how to value a business.
• ✅ How to choose the right valuation method.
• ✅ How to value a business quickly, like a pro.
• ✅ What business factors and owner factors affect the valuation profit multiple, and ultimately the value of a business, so you don't pay over-the-odds for a business.
• ✅ Why you should use 'Adjusted EBIT' and not 'EBITDA' to value a business.
• ✅ When you should avoid buying a business altogether.

After this step, you’ll know how to value a business quickly and with confidence, so you avoid costly overpayment mistakes. You'll be able to go to the negotiation table with condifence, with a valuation derived from the business's financial statements.

Step 4: What Questions To Ask The Owner About Them And Their Business

Asking the right questions is essential—not just to understand how the business operates and accurately assess its value, but also to build trust and rapport with the owner, and to uncover their true motivation for selling.

This step is about more than just information-gathering—it’s about building rapport, gaining insight, and opening up honest conversations that can lead to a smoother deal. You'll even learn how to buy a business using its own cash, which will only happen if the seller trusts you.

To help you navigate this step with confidence, you’ll receive my “Buying an Existing Business Checklist pdf”—a ready-to-use list of key questions to ask the owner, covering everything from operations and team dynamics to financials and future plans, and to that all important question; how dependent is the business on the owner.

Having the right questions to hand means you’ll look like a pro, spot red flags early, and make more informed decisions.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this step about how to buy a business from someone:

• ✅ Important questions to ask about the business owner.
• ✅ Learn the key questions to ask about the 'already established business'.
• ✅ How to build rapport with a business owner.
• ✅ Why building rapport is key to buying a million-pound business.
• ✅ Free PDF Buying an Existing Business Checklist of questions.
• ✅ Free PDF of negotiation questions.
• ✅ How to discover an owner’s real motivation for selling, and why this is important.
• ✅ Why you need to focus on motivation vs money.
• ✅ How to negotiate a great deal.
• ✅ Discover why you need to build rapport to for the acquisition to include seller financing.

By the end of this step, you’ll know how to confidently lead conversations with sellers and uncover the insights needed to negotiate smarter.

Step 5: How to Do Due Diligence On a Business (Without Hiring an Expensive Accountant)

Knowing how to do due diligence on a business yourself will save you time and money—two things that matter most when you’re close to securing a million-pound business acqusition.

At this stage, you’ve already found an established million-pound business, negotiated a strong deal, and the owner has agreed to seller financing. The last thing you want to happen is delays whilst you wait for an accountant to fit you in, only to be landed with a hefty bill at the end of it.

That’s why in this step of the programme, I teach you exactly how to do due diligence on a buisness yourself, with confidence.

Due diligence is a teachable skill—and once you learn how to assess the numbers, ask the right questions, and check what matters most, you’ll be able to move faster and smarter, without relying on expensive professionals.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this step of how to buy a million-pound business:

• ✅ How to do due diligence on a million-pound business.
• ✅ Use a step-by-step due diligence checklist pdf to carry out the right checks to uncover a good business vs one with red flags.
• ✅ What information to ask for to check the business numbers.
• ✅ How to uncover if a business is in financial difficulty.
• ✅ How to check if a business is making the disclosed profits.
• ✅ How to check if the underlying information supports the information you already have.
• ✅ How to negotiate a “Head of Terms” with the business owner.
• ✅ What to include in a “Head of Terms“.
• ✅ How to save money with solicitor costs.
• ✅ How to choose a solicitor.
• ✅ Understand why warranties and indemnities are important, and why your deal needs them; plus why seller financing protects you.

By the end of this step, you’ll know exactly how to do due diligence on a business yourself—and how to complete your deal with clarity and confidence.