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- How Clem kept his job AND bought a $1M off-market business in 5 months [Case Study]
How Clem kept his job AND bought a $1M off-market business in 5 months [Case Study]
Helen Guo
December 15, 2025
Hey - Helen here,
How many of you have thought about buying a business... but secretly worry it'll all fall apart the moment you take over?
The clients will leave.
The employees will quit.
The seller was lying about something.
And you'll be stuck holding the bag.
That fear is real. And honestly? Sometimes it happens.
Clem had been in tech for 12 years and he hated it. He joined SMB Deal Hunter Pro, and 5 months later, he closed on an off-market ~$1M digital marketing agency cash-flowing $360k/year.
He put just 5% down. He got 25% seller financing. And covered the rest with the SBA.
Then he lost 30% of his clients within months of closing.
They were upset they weren't told about the sale. They were attached to the old owner. And one by one, they walked.
Let me tell you what happened next.
This week's SMB Deal Hunter Pro case study is worth studying because...
The average business search takes 23 months.
Clem joined us and closed in 5 months.
He put just 5% down (SBA loan).
And he negotiated 25% seller financing on top of it.
But the part that made me want to do this breakdown?
What Clem did after losing 30% of his revenue - and how he clawed it all back in 2.5 months.
Because here's what most people don't tell you about acquisitions: sometimes things go wrong.
Clients leave.
Surprises happen.
The question isn't whether you'll face adversity - it's whether you're prepared for it.
We made sure Clem was. We focused on over-preparing for all the yellow flags in the deal.
We helped him negotiate a very healthy amount of working capital into the deal.
He had replacement people lined up before he even closed.
He was, in his words, "hyper-paranoid" and that preparation set him up to succeed.
But here's the twist: those clients who left? They were on terrible retainers.
The old owner had been selling retainers with ad spend included.
$500K in revenue that was really only $125K in actual service revenue. Bad margins. High maintenance.
When Clem restructured the pricing and started closing new business, he didn't just recover within 2 months - he recovered with better margins.
Here’s a step-by-step case study on how he not only closed in record time but tackled his post-acquisition challenges 👇️
"I would say if you are on the fence or even truly interested... I learned at Amazon the concept of a two-way door decision versus a one-way door decision. I thought joining this program would be a one-way door decision, but in hindsight, it was probably a two-way door decision. So take the jump. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but you'll never know unless you try. I was really happy that I convinced myself to join."
Clem leaned on our battle-tested deal team to help him…
Source his deal for him on and off-market (personalized exactly to his needs)
Navigate every step of the process from the first broker call till closing day (one on one)
And ultimately help him not just buy a business, but one he can grow and succeed with…
So, if you want to buy a $1M+ business in the next 6–12 months, but don’t want to spend years spinning your wheels alone, let’s talk.
Talk soon,
Helen Guo
P.S. We’re going to be raising prices on Jan. 1st. We’ve spent the last year…
Helping our members close over $115M in deals
Doubling the amount of M&A advisors that every Pro member has 1:1 access to
Building an off-market marketplace that has hundreds of listings no one else has access to (with more added every single week).
So, if you have been dragging your feet on making a call and buying a business…