~65%
The fraud you will not see coming
Of the failure stories I have studied, roughly 65 percent involved seller fraud or misrepresentation. Not market cycles. Not bad luck. A person across the table.
The book
Buyer Beware
Cautionary tales for anyone buying a small business
Built from the 60+ failed and struggling buyers I have talked to, and from the failure I lived myself. Real deals, retold so the people are protected and the lessons are not. Every name is fake. Every dollar is real.
Inside
Three patterns, told as stories
80%
The fatigue that signs bad deals
80 percent of the buyers I interviewed cited deal fatigue. Month nine of a search does something to your judgment, and sellers can smell it.
8 of 10
The aftermath nobody narrates
Roughly 8 of 10 post-close failures I hear about end in litigation, bankruptcy, or an NDA settlement. That is anecdote, not audit, and it is exactly why the stories stay buried.
Who it is for
- Searchers who are about to sign an LOI.
- First-time buyers who keep hearing it is easy.
- Families betting their savings and their house on a deal.
- Anyone advising a buyer who deserves the whole story.
Who it is not for
People who want a pep talk. This is not a book about believing in yourself. It is a book about what happened to buyers who believed hard and verified nothing. If you want to be told it is easy, this is not your book.
The author
Jed Morris bought two businesses, lost them both, and carried over $1M in personally guaranteed debt out of the wreckage. He wrote the book he needed before he signed.
About Jed →The newsletter
Do not buy alone
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