Choose Your Path

1. Cash you could put into a deal today (not counting the search itself)?

Under $50k$50k–$150k$150k–$400k$400k or more

2. Income while you search?

I need a salary during the searchI can absorb one lean yearI can absorb two lean years if needed

3. Ownership versus backing, what matters more?

Maximum ownership and controlExperienced investors around the tableDepends entirely on the dealA salary and a team matter more than maximum equity

4. Which best describes your background story?

MBA / finance / the profile search investors recognizeOperator or industry backgroundNeither yet, building it

5. The size of business you picture running?

Under ~$1.5M purchase price~$1.5M–$5M purchase priceLarger, real middle-market EBITDA

6. Your timeline?

Own something within about a yearOne to two years, with structure and supportOpportunistic, when the right deal appears

7. Geography?

I'll relocate for the right businessAnchored to my regionMy thesis is remote-friendly

After the Quiz

The result names a path. Three pages take it further, in the order the questions arrive. Path Economics prices self-funded, investor-backed and employed search side by side. Search Readiness checks money, time, skills, temperament and support before you set a date, and covers what you owe the employer you still have. And SBA Eligibility Pre-Check states the gates that can end the self-funded path whatever the quiz said, each with its source.

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Everything here is educational information, not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Figures are estimates or cited third-party data; verify anything that matters against primary sources and your own advisors before acting on it.