Guardian Due Diligence
At a Glance
Shortlist them for QoE on searcher-sized deals; with the tiers published, the first call is a scoping call rather than a pricing discovery.
- Pricing
- One-Time, Publishes exact tiers on its services page: QoE Light $20k, full QoE $25k, Advised QoE $40k, with the caveat that pricing is for deals under $2 million in purchase price and larger deals are slightly more. Deal Closer's Society runs $24k one time or $3k per month for up to 18 months; Guardian Grow is $1k per month plus a 1 to 5 percent equity earn-in on a 3 year vesting schedule.
- Best For
- Self-funded searchers who want a QoE shop that lives in sub-$5M deals rather than a regional CPA firm fitting them in
- Roadmap Stages
- 5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Specialization is the pitch: QoE for searcher-sized, often SBA-financed deals is the entire practice
- Publishes exact engagement pricing, which most QoE shops still make you call for
- Claims to find 85% of major deal-breaking issues within 7 days, materially faster than typical CPA-firm timelines
- Founder is visible and reachable in the searcher community
Cons
- The published tiers hold only under $2 million of purchase price; larger deals are quoted slightly more without saying how much
- Marketing-forward brand (the founder styles himself 'King of QoE'); calibrate marketing claims against references
- Testimonial-heavy public reputation; ask for recent client references on deals your size
- Guardian Grow's 1 to 5 percent equity earn-in is a real cost of capital, not a $1k subscription
What Searchers Say
Widely known in the self-funded searcher world; testimonials cite renegotiations from QoE findings (one claims a $1.5M price reduction). Positive third-party writeups exist (GoSBA Loans review; ThinkSBA podcast appearance), though most detailed accounts trace to the firm's own materials.