Before you chase the deal,
know if the financing works.
Most buyers start with listings. Serious buyers know their range first. Emporio gives buyers, brokers, and lenders a fast read on whether an SBA acquisition is financeable — before anyone wastes an LOI, a seller call, or an underwriting cycle.
Review the public financeability methodology · Proof of funds vs. financeability
The fastest way to look unserious is to chase deals you can't finance.
Brokers and sellers are trying to answer one question — can this buyer actually close? You want that answer before they do.
You fall for the wrong deal.
A $2M listing means nothing if your cash and credit support a smaller purchase.
Brokers stop replying.
They've seen too many buyers vanish when financing gets real.
Lenders ask basic questions late.
Cash, credit, experience, industry, and price should be checked first.
You lose months.
The problem usually isn't effort. It's starting with listings instead of your buying power.
See where you stand in 3 minutes.
Answer the questions a lender or serious broker cares about first — target price, cash to close, credit, net worth, industry, experience, timing. If the basics look promising, complete the deeper profile. No credit pull, no documents to start.
The actual capital stack is based on total project cost and lender underwriting. Seller debt not credited toward the required injection may still be approved as subordinated debt, but it does not replace qualifying equity and may add debt service. The SBA 7(a) program caps an individual loan at $5 million.
Stop losing deals to buyers who were never financeable.
We tell you whether a buyer's financing path is real — without touching your seller relationship or your commission.
Screen a buyer before you engage- 1Send the buyer or the deal basics. A name and a few numbers, or forward your buyer to the check.
- 2We review financeability and lender concerns. Cash, credit, experience, target price, structure.
- 3You get a practical read. Whether the buyer deserves more of your time — and what would have to be true for the deal to finance.
What a real read looks like.
$100K cash · $1M target
- Issue
- The buyer may cover an illustrative 10% injection but still lacks cushion for fees, working capital, and post-close liquidity.
- Our read
- Possibly workable after total project cost and reserves are verified.
- Lender concern
- Required injection, source of funds, post-close liquidity.
- Next step
- Model qualifying buyer equity and any seller debt under current lender-approved terms.
$900K target · ~$450K financeable
- Issue
- Cash flow and collateral don't support the asking price.
- Our read
- The gap is too wide as priced.
- Lender concern
- DSCR, valuation support.
- Next step
- Renegotiate price or layer in seller financing.
Add-backs don't reconcile to tax returns
- Issue
- Adjusted earnings can't yet be substantiated.
- Our read
- Financeable amount likely sits below asking until proven.
- Lender concern
- SDE support, quality of earnings.
- Next step
- Substantiate add-backs before signing an LOI.
Illustrative, anonymized scenarios for explanation only — not offers, approvals, or predictions of any specific outcome.
Independent.
We're not a lender, so the read is about whether your deal works — not whether one bank wants it.
Pre-LOI.
We work before the offer, where deals actually die.
Broker-safe.
We never interfere with the seller relationship or the commission.
Disclosed economics.
Any referral compensation is typically lender-paid and disclosed, not hidden.
No. A financeability read is a first-pass assessment — not a loan approval, pre-approval, or commitment to lend. Lenders make all credit decisions after reviewing the full application, tax returns, business financials, collateral, and SBA eligibility. What the check gives you is a clear read on whether the basic structure — your cash, credit, experience, and target price — is in a range that lenders typically work with. If the basics look weak, you know before you waste an LOI or a seller’s time.
No. There is no credit pull of any kind. The check asks for your general credit tier (excellent, good, fair, or below fair) — you self-report. No hard inquiry, no soft pull, no impact on your credit score. SBA lenders will pull credit during actual underwriting, but Emporio never does. You can run the check as many times as you want with no credit consequence.
It depends on three things: the target business’s cash flow (SDE or EBITDA), your equity contribution, and lender criteria. The check gives you a realistic range based on those inputs — not a number a lender has committed to. Many SBA acquisition lenders use 1.25x as a preliminary DSCR planning benchmark, but lender policy, eligible cash flow, and required coverage vary. The SBA 7(a) program caps an individual loan at $5 million. Your actual borrowing capacity is the lower of what your cash supports as an equity injection and what the business cash flow supports under the selected lender’s analysis.