Templates
Asking for the Money
Before You Send One
The [brackets] are your fill-ins, and the specific true line you put in them is what separates your note from the ones owners delete. Everything here belongs to one stage of the roadmap, Set Up & Fund the Search, and every other stage has its own set on the templates index.
Financing & Investors
Lender Quote Request
Sent to three or four SBA desks at once when a deal is real enough to price. Our file prices the same program points apart across desks, so the spread is won by shopping rather than negotiating, and identical notes are what make the quotes comparable.
Subject: SBA 7(a) quote request: [INDUSTRY] acquisition, [PRICE]
Hi [LOAN OFFICER FIRST NAME], I'm at [STAGE, e.g., a signed LOI] on a [INDUSTRY] business in [CITY, STATE]: [PRICE] purchase price against [SDE AMOUNT] in seller's discretionary earnings, [ONE LINE ON THE BUSINESS, e.g., twenty years operating with a manager in place]. I'm requesting the same quote from a small number of SBA desks so the terms are comparable. Could you share, even as ranges: rate and whether it is fixed or variable, required equity injection, term, closing timeline from a complete file, and any lender fees beyond the SBA guarantee fee? My side of the file: [CASH AMOUNT] committed for the injection, [ONE LINE ON BACKGROUND, e.g., ten years in operations management], and a personal financial statement ready to send. If the deal fits your box, I can have the CIM and three years of financials over the same day. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL]
Search Fund Raise Introduction
A first note to a dedicated search fund investor when raising traditional search capital, before any deal exists. Investors in this lane read for pedigree, thesis discipline, and whether you know how their model works; the note shows all three in one screen.
Subject: Raising a search fund: [YOUR NAME], [THESIS IN FIVE WORDS]
Hi [INVESTOR FIRST NAME], I'm raising a traditional search fund and [REFERRAL NAME OR HOW YOU FOUND THEM] suggested your firm as a fit for how I'm approaching it. The one-screen version: - Background: [TWO LINES: OPERATING OR DEAL EXPERIENCE, SCHOOL IF RECENT, WHY BUYING NOW] - Thesis: [INDUSTRY OR CHARACTERISTICS], [GEOGRAPHY], [SDE OR EBITDA RANGE]; why me for it: [ONE LINE] - Raise: [SEARCH BUDGET] over [MONTHS] months from [NUMBER] investors on standard stepped-up conversion terms - Status: [COMMITTED COUNT] units soft-circled; targeting a close by [DATE] My PPM and references are ready to send, and I would value thirty minutes for your read on the thesis even if the timing is wrong for the fund. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL]
Equity-Gap Investor Introduction
A first note to an investor who backs self-funded searchers, sent once a deal is under LOI and the injection math has a hole in it.
Subject: [BUSINESS NAME] under LOI: [AMOUNT] equity gap, [INDUSTRY]
Hi [INVESTOR FIRST NAME], I have [BUSINESS NAME] under LOI and a defined equity gap I'm looking to fill with one or two aligned investors. The essentials: - [INDUSTRY] in [LOCATION], [YEARS] years old; SDE of [SDE] on [REVENUE] - Price [PRICE], [MULTIPLE]x, financed with [LOAN STRUCTURE] plus [SELLER NOTE IF ANY] - I'm in for [YOUR CASH]; the gap is [GAP AMOUNT] for [EQUITY OFFERED OR STRUCTURE] - Diligence status: [ONE LINE ON QOE AND TIMELINE, e.g., QoE underway and clean so far, targeting an early-fall close] I can share the full model, CIM, and my background in one packet under NDA. If the shape fits your mandate, I'd welcome thirty minutes this week; the timeline is real but not desperate. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL]
Investor Decline, Door Open
Declining an investor whose terms or fit are wrong for your raise, without burning a relationship you may want at the acquisition round. Cap-table discipline is easiest to admire and hardest to practice; this is what it sounds like.
Subject: My raise: where I've landed
Hi [INVESTOR FIRST NAME], Thank you for the time you've spent with me and for the offer to be part of the raise. I've decided not to include it, and I want to be straight with you about why rather than let this trail off. [THE REAL REASON, IN ONE OR TWO SENTENCES, e.g., I'm holding to the standard step-up and one term sheet asked otherwise; I'm capping the number of investors and prioritized those who can lead my acquisition round; the fit conversations pointed me toward operators in my thesis industry.] I'd genuinely like to keep the door open. If a deal comes together in [INDUSTRY], the acquisition round will need more capital than the search did, and you'd be one of my first calls if that interests you. Either way, I'm glad to have met you, and I'll keep you on my update list unless you'd rather I didn't. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL]
Commitment Confirmation
Converting a soft-circled investor into a signed one: the note that turns 'count me in' into documents, a wire date, and a unit count, sent the week you are ready to close the raise.
Subject: Confirming your commitment: [FUND NAME], closing [DATE]
Hi [INVESTOR FIRST NAME], Thank you again for committing to the raise. I'm closing it on [DATE], and this note is to convert your soft circle into the signed version. Attached are the unit purchase documents: [DOCUMENT LIST, e.g., the subscription agreement and the operating agreement]. You're down for [UNITS] unit(s) at [UNIT PRICE]; if you'd like to adjust in either direction, tell me by [REPLY-BY DATE] and I'll re-cut the documents. Logistics: signatures by [SIGNATURE DATE], wires by [WIRE DATE] to the account in the instructions attached. After close, you'll receive [WHAT INVESTORS RECEIVE, e.g., the monthly update and the closing cap table]. If anything has changed on your side, that's fine too; I'd rather know now than chase a wire later. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL]
Investor Update
The short monthly note that keeps committed and prospective investors warm during the search. Searchers who send these raise faster when a deal lands; the Pipeline Tracker's Copy Update button drafts the pipeline section for you.
Subject: [MONTH] search update
Hi [FIRST NAME], Quick update on the search. [PASTE THE PIPELINE SECTION HERE, e.g., from the Pipeline Tracker's Copy Update button: active targets by stage, what's in play, what's next.] The month in one paragraph: [WHAT MOVED, WHAT DIED AND WHY, AND WHAT YOU CHANGED, e.g., two CIMs read, one pass on customer concentration, broker coverage widened in the target region]. Where I could use help: [ONE SPECIFIC ASK, e.g., an intro to anyone who knows the commercial-plumbing trade in your target region, or nothing this month]. [YOUR NAME]
Second Lender Terms Request
Taking the same package to a second lender once the first proposal is in. A competing term sheet is the only negotiating leverage an SBA borrower has, and most never create it.
Subject: Acquisition loan, [BUSINESS NAME]: package ready, seeking terms this week
Hi [LENDER FIRST NAME], I'm under LOI on [BUSINESS NAME], a [INDUSTRY] business in [LOCATION] at [PRICE], and my full package is ready to send: three years of financials, my projection model, the LOI, and my personal financial statement. I'll be candid about where I am: I have a proposal in hand from another SBA lender and I'd rather make this decision on terms than on inertia. The deal underwrites at [DSCR] coverage on trailing earnings before any adjustments. If the profile fits your credit box, what would you need beyond the package to issue a term sheet, and what does your timeline to close look like from here? I'm deciding within [DAYS] days. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL]
Lender Package Cover
Sending a deal package to a lender, front-loading what underwriting wants so you read as the organized borrower.
Subject: Acquisition loan package, [BUSINESS NAME], [PRICE], [INDUSTRY]
Hi [LENDER FIRST NAME], Package attached for [BUSINESS NAME], a [INDUSTRY] business in [LOCATION] under LOI at [PRICE]. Where it stands: - SDE: [SDE] ([YEARS] years, per [SOURCE, e.g., tax returns; QoE underway]) - Structure: [LOAN AMOUNT] requested, [CASH INJECTION] cash in, [SELLER NOTE TERMS IF ANY, note standby status] - Coverage: roughly [DSCR ESTIMATE]x at these terms, after a [SALARY] owner salary - My side: [ONE LINE ON BACKGROUND/CREDIT/POST-CLOSE LIQUIDITY] Included: LOI, three years of financials and returns, interim statements, my PFS and resume, and the working model. We're targeting [CLOSE DATE], so I'd rather learn about any gaps now: what would you need beyond this to get to a term sheet? [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL]
The Other Stages
Every stage has its own emails, because what you write changes completely between hunting a listing and papering a deal.