ThinkSBA
At a Glance
A solid second brokerage quote; make brokers compete for your deal the same way they make lenders compete.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Its FAQ prints the fee: 1% of the gross loan amount, earned after the loan funds, with no upfront fee of any kind. Publishes indicative rate ranges: business loans 6.75%–11.75%, commercial real estate 5.50%–9.25% on the front page, with wider bands on the program pages.
- Best For
- A competing brokerage quote, especially for deals with a real-estate component or partner buyouts
- Track Record
- A nationwide 7(a) and 504 brokerage that shops applications across many banks.
- Type
- Broker (shops your deal)
- Footprint
- Nationwide.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, handled remotely.
- Its front page describes a nationwide SBA 504 and 7(a) brokerage for people buying a business, a franchise or a partner's share, and its acquisition page speaks to a first-time buyer or an experienced acquisition entrepreneur. The two mentions of a self-funded searcher sit inside an August 2026 article listing four kinds of buyer the network has served, so what it publishes is acquisition lending and not a practice built around a search.
- Published Terms
- Acquisitions $250k to $5M, plus partner buyouts and franchises; its fee is 1% of the gross loan, earned after funding, with nothing up front by its own FAQ.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- 20+ years of SBA experience; $253M+ funded across 138+ closed deals
- Explicitly multi-lender: creates competitive tension across rates and fees
- Covers structures adjacent to pure acquisitions (partner buyouts, real estate) that some acquisition-only brokers don't
Cons
- Practice is broader than acquisitions (real estate, franchises), so it's less searcher-specialized than acquisition-only brokers
- The front page and the program pages print different rate bands for the same loans
- Promotes a paid monthly 'Business Acquisition Accelerator' program alongside brokerage
What Searchers Say
Founder Ryan Smith is an active SBA educator (podcast appearances, including hosting QoE discussions with diligence providers). Less searcher-community presence than Pioneer, but more breadth.
How to Approach
ThinkSBA is a broker, so this is how that kind of lender comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A conversation about your deal before any bank sees it.
- The broker packages the file and shops it across its lender network.
- Competing term sheets, then closing with the bank that fits.
What It Weighs
- The same credit fundamentals a bank weighs, packaged to show best.
- Whether the deal is financeable at all, before you spend weeks on it.
- Which lender in the network fits the deal's shape.
How to Prepare
- Know your own coverage math before the first call. SBA Acquisition Calculator
- Underwrite the deal so you can speak to it. Underwrite a Deal
- Compare the offers the broker brings back. SBA Acquisition Calculator