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Go-to-Millions is the ecommerce growth newsletter from Ari Murray, packed with tactical insights, smart creative, and marketing that drives revenue.
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MINDSET: The Week-Off Test
Here's a simple question that tells you more about your business than any P&L:
Could you disappear for seven days, phone off, and come back to a business that's still running?
Not "technically open." Running. Jobs booked, customers happy, payroll out, no fires waiting for you.
If the honest answer is no, you don't own a business yet. You own a job with overhead. (Been there.)
And it's not just a lifestyle problem. It's a money problem. When a buyer looks at a business that can't run without the owner, they see risk, and risk shrinks the price. The less the business needs you, the more it's worth.
Try this tonight. Grab a pen and write down:
Every decision that only you can make.
Every login, password and relationship that only you hold.
Every task you did this week that someone at $25 an hour could have done.
That list is your roadmap. Each item you hand off, write down or automate is a brick. Start with the one that eats the most of your time.
If you love the hustle, keep hustling. Just make sure it's a choice, not a requirement.
IN THE NEWS: The SBA just changed the rules for buying a business
If you're buying or selling a small business with an SBA loan, the playbook changed on October 1. The SBA's updated rulebook (SOP 50 10 8.1) now applies to any 7(a) loan that got its loan number on or after that date.
The changes that matter most:
No more lending on the story. Lenders now have to size acquisition loans on historical earnings (last year, or the average of the last two). Projections can't be used to clear the bar.
A higher bar. Minimum debt service coverage for a full acquisition goes from 1.15x to 1.25x. In plain English: the business needs to throw off $1.25 in cash for every $1 of loan payments.
Real skin in the game. Buyers still need a 10% down payment (equity injection) on a full acquisition, and it can't be reduced. Seller notes on full standby, other standby debt and small minority investors combined can cover no more than half of it.
Quality of Earnings on bigger deals. Purchases of $3M or more now need a lender-ordered QoE: an accounting deep dive on whether the profits are real.
Sellers can stick around longer. A selling owner can stay on as a consultant for up to 24 months, up from 12. Earnouts are still not allowed in SBA deals.
What it means for you:
If you're selling: your price is now capped by what last year's books can support, not by next year's upside. Clean, provable numbers are worth real money.
If you're buying: bring more of your own cash, expect tighter underwriting, and budget extra time and fees on deals above $3M.
One more reason to pass the Week-Off Test: a business that runs without you, with clean books, is the easiest kind to finance.
Always confirm the details with your lender. These are summaries, not the SOP itself.
STRATEGY: Seller financing, the deal-maker hiding in plain sight
If you read my deal listings, you've seen it over and over: "$500K down and a seller note." Here's what that means and why it's in so many deals.
How it works
Instead of getting 100% of the price in cash at closing, the seller acts like the bank for part of it. The buyer pays the rest over time, with interest, out of the business's cash flow.
A simple example (illustrative)
A business earns $250K a year and sells for $1M.
The buyer puts $300K down.
The seller carries a $700K note over 7 years at 7%.
That's about $10,600 a month, or roughly $127K a year, to the seller.
The business still leaves the buyer around $120K a year before taxes, and the business is fully theirs when the note is paid off.
Why sellers say yes
A higher price. Buyers pay more when they don't have to find all the cash up front.
A faster sale. More buyers can afford the deal.
Interest income. The seller earns a return on the money they're owed.
Possible tax benefits. Spreading payments over years can spread out the tax bill. (Ask your CPA.)
Why buyers love it
Less cash needed to get in the door.
The seller has skin in the game. If the seller won't carry any paper, ask yourself why. A seller who believes the business will keep performing is a good sign.
What to watch
If a bank is involved, the seller usually gets paid after the bank. Under the SBA rules above, a seller note only counts toward the buyer's down payment if it's on full standby, meaning the seller waits.
Protect both sides. Sellers should get a personal guarantee from the buyer and a security interest in the business. Buyers should make sure the payments are affordable even in a slow year.
Seller financing is often the bridge between what a buyer can pay and what a seller wants. Most deals that "don't work" on paper can work with the right structure.
DEAL TIME
Businesses
Trucking Company · Staten Island, NY · $799K · $1.6M Gross/$320K Net (Pre-market): A lucrative contract that drives all of the business and handles a lot of the overhead. 7 trucks included, 9 drivers on payroll, very hands-off (owner does payroll and maintains trucks when needed). Clean books, so this is SBA eligible (or the owner will hold a note).
Car Wash Portfolio (14 Locations) · Michigan · $23M · Numbers Confidential (Off-market): Massive car wash with platform built in or plug into your own network. All profitable locations. Experienced operators or investors reply to me for more details.
NY-Style Bagel Shop · Los Angeles, CA · $3.5M · $2.29 Gross/$900K Net (Off-market): An established New York-style bagel shop and delicatessen in an affluent, high-density Los Angeles County trade area. Loyal, repeat customer base. Full menu of hand-rolled bagels, deli, breakfast and prepared foods, plus delivery and wholesale channels. Fully built out, staffed and turnkey.
First-time business buyer or looking for a head start for your concept? I currently have 5 different low-entry, low-rent asset sales ranging from $35K - $199K in the NYC/Long Island area. Reply here with what you are looking to do and I’ll send you what fits.
Real Estate
Self-Storage Business + Property · Shelton, CT · $5.895M · 8% Cap (On-market): 30K+ Square Feet, 277 self-storage units + 2 rental apartments on the property. Potential for value-add on the storage business.
Buyer tip: on any deal with a seller note, ask the seller what terms they'd accept before you make an offer: down payment, rate and length. It tells you how motivated they are and how confident they are in the business.
Reply to this email with what you want more info on.
STEAL THIS IDEA: The Laundry Route (no laundromat required)
In Issue #001 I listed a Park Slope laundromat still run "old school," with almost no pickup and delivery. That's the gap. You don't need to own the machines to fill it.
The idea: start a wash-and-fold pickup and delivery service, and partner with a local laundromat to do the washing.
How it works
Strike a deal with a laundromat that has spare capacity on weekdays: a wholesale price per pound for wash-and-fold.
You own the customer: the brand, the booking, the pickup and the delivery.
Charge a retail price per pound plus a delivery fee, and keep the spread.
Start with a car, a scale, branded bags and a simple text or online booking form.
Who to target: busy families, small offices, gyms, salons, and Airbnb hosts who need linens turned around fast.
The math (example): if you keep $1 a pound and each customer sends 20 pounds a week, 50 regular customers is $1,000 a week. Recurring, local and easy to grow one route at a time.
Why it compounds: you build a customer list and a brand, which are the most valuable parts of a laundromat. Down the road, you can sell the route, or use it to buy the laundromat itself and move all that volume in-house.
Love language check: this one's for sellers and operators. If you hate knocking on doors, partner with someone who loves it.
MY WISH FOR YOU
I hope that one day soon you take a full week off, phone off, and come back to find the business ran just fine without you. Not because you matter less, but because you built something that stands on its own. That's when you stop working for your business and it starts working for you.
YOUR TURN
If you took next week off, what's the first thing that would break?
Hit reply and tell me. I read every reply.
LOOKING TO BUY SOMETHING THAT CASH FLOWS?
My team of 30+ agents offers a free buyer concierge service. We'll match you with opportunities from our confidential database of 700+ active and soon-to-launch listings, most of which you won't find online.
Reply and tell me two things:
What you'd be most interested in owning (industry, size, price range)
Where you want to do business
We'll send you opportunities that fit your style. No pressure, no spam.
P.S. Know an owner who couldn't take a week off if their life depended on it? Forward them this email. They can subscribe at brickbybrick.media.
Until next week…
- JM