For Halloween, Still Searching with Jed Morris joins Andrew Hoffman of the Search Fund Coalition for Tales from the Search Crypt: six real stories of small business acquisitions that ended in the graveyard.

A $20 million healthcare deal that lost most of its EBITDA nine months after close. A 100% seller-financed plumbing buy that turned into a fight over $600,000 in receivables. A star salesman who turned out to be the most toxic person in the building, holding half the revenue hostage. A parts manufacturer that tripled capacity on cheap money right before the market normalized. A searcher so deal fatigued he hoped his own QoE would come back bad. And a seller who built a copycat business across town before the ink dried. Names changed, industries pivoted. The settlements and NDAs are exactly why you never hear these stories.

This is not scare content. It is preparation. Do not overlever, because a 1.5 DSCR feels comfortable and is not. Know the incentives of everyone on your deal team. And never close with a seller you do not trust. Jed ends where most people will not go: what insolvency does to the person holding the personal guarantee, and why losing money is not losing everything.

A buyer walks away with: the failure patterns that repeat across deals, the leverage and trust rules that keep you out of the graveyard, and the reminder that in year one your only job is to not fail.

Full transcript: https://jedmorris.com/podcast/small-business-failure-stories-halloween

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIzF_b7xmGg