{"apiVersion":"2026-10-19","data":{"disclaimer":"Educational. Not legal, tax, or financial advice.","resource":{"slug":"diligence-by-industry","title":"Diligence checklists by industry","audience":"buyer","summary":"Questions that change by trade, on top of the standard deal-room list.","citations":[{"label":"SBA 7(a) loans","url":"https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/7a-loans"},{"label":"IRS Form 8594","url":"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8594"}],"body":"This is educational. It is not a diligence opinion.\n\nEvery deal room on NewHands starts with the same list: tax returns, add-backs, concentration, contracts, employees, and real estate. The industry changes what \"done\" means.\n\nMarine and marinas. Ask who holds the submerged-land or slip agreement, whether the yard lease survives a sale, and how winter storage contracts renew. Weather years are not a trend.\n\nRestaurants and liquor. The permit is often the asset a buyer thinks they are buying. State liquor authorities decide transfers. A Connecticut restaurant permit in the public index is a license record, not an offer. Start with the state alcohol agency linked in the New England notes.\n\nHVAC and trades. Service agreements, technician licenses, and the van fleet. If the owner is the lead tech, price the replacement wage in the SDE worksheet.\n\nPractices (dental, veterinary). Payer mix and whether the clinical owner must stay. These businesses are often discussed on collections. NewHands's estimator still shows SDE so industries can be compared, and it says so.\n\nManufacturing and wholesale. Customer concentration, inventory method, and whether equipment is leased. A quality-of-earnings review is the tool for add-backs that are really ongoing costs.\n\nHospitality and inns. Separate the real estate cap rate conversation from the operating multiple. Occupancy is seasonal in this region.\n\nChild care. State licensing capacity is the constraint. Confirm the license transfers or can be reissued before you model revenue."}}}