An M&A Billionaire Gave Me These 6 Rules for Buying Businesses

I had a call this week with an M&A billionaire who gave me business-buying secrets that are easily worth $20,000 in consulting fees.

I’m learning how to buy a business right now (the right way) — and I pulled the best insights around capital, banks, and loans from my conversation with him so you can apply them immediately.

Here are the top 5 tips he gave me:

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1.) Study 100 Tax Returns Before You Buy Anything

Most people think learning M&A means listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos.

Wrong.

He told me the real skill is building pattern recognition.

You need to look at 100 company tax returns until your brain can instantly spot:

• A real business

• A fake business

• A “high-paying job disguised as a business”

• A company banks will actually lend against

Banks don’t care about your pitch, they care about what shows up on tax returns.

💡 Action: Start reviewing tax returns weekly until you’ve seen 100.

2.) Banks Don’t Care About Your P&L

This was one of the biggest surprises.

He said, “a P&L can be manipulated. Tax returns are what banks trust.”

💡Action: Never waste time doing diligence without requesting the last 3 years of tax returns upfront.

If you’re thinking about acquisitions (or even just want to understand how banks evaluate real businesses) this is exactly the kind of thinking I walk founders through privately.

If you want help structuring deals, building lender relationships, or pressure-testing whether a business is actually financeable, you can book a call here →

3.) Ask Bankers These 4 Questions (This Filters Winners Immediately)

He gave me a simple bank script that cuts through the fluff instantly:

Question #1: Do you lend into this industry?

If they don’t lend into your industry, stop talking.

Question #2: What LTV / multiple do you lend on?

This tells you how much of the deal they’ll actually fund.

Question #3: Do you allow seller notes as a down payment?

If they say yes, you can potentially buy deals with almost no cash down.

Question #4: What’s the maximum you can approve without manager escalation?

This one is gold.

He told me to ask, “If a banker can approve millions without committee approval, you’ve found a serious weapon.”

💡Action: Ask these questions to every bank you talk to.

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4.) Local Banks Beat Big Banks (Because They’re Relationship-Based)

Big banks are rigid. They operate inside a system:

• Checkboxes

• Automated underwriting

• Strict oversight

Local banks are different. They’re relationship-driven, which means the right banker can approve deals far more aggressively because there’s less bureaucracy.

💡Action: Stop relying only on banks like Chase or Wells Fargo. Build relationships with local banks and credit unions.

5.) Take the Banker to Dinner (Rapport Can Literally Get You the Loan)

This sounded old school… until I realized it’s how the game is actually played.

If you find a banker with real lending power, you don’t treat them like a service provider.

You treat them like a partner.

Because in a local bank environment, the relationship can be the difference between “denied” and “approved instantly.”

💡Action: Find the decision-maker banker and build rapport fast.

Bonus Tip: If Your Money Is in the Market, Borrow Against It (Don’t Sell It)

If you have $300k invested, most people think they need to liquidate it to fund a deal.

He told me, “that’s what rich people do. They keep their assets compounding while accessing liquidity.”

💡Action: If you have significant investments, explore borrowing against them before pulling cash out.

Buying a business isn’t about finding a deal, it’s about knowing how capital actually moves and positioning yourself so banks want to fund you.

If you want help:

• Evaluating businesses before you waste months in diligence

• Structuring deals banks will actually approve

• Or preparing your company to be buyable or financeable at a premium

You can book a private strategy call here → 

I’ll walk you through how this applies to your situation–no fluff, no theory.

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