Educational only. Not legal, tax, or financial advice. NewHands is not a broker-dealer. Verify state rules with counsel before you rely on them.
Buyer readiness before the first call
The proof, the criteria, and the people a buyer needs before an offer is worth a seller's time.
This is educational. It is not a credit decision and not legal, tax, or financial advice.
Sellers and brokers can tell when a buyer is browsing. The readiness score on this site is a checklist with weights, not a grade a lender will accept. Proof of funds is statements, not a screenshot of a wish. The down payment is a separate pile from the cash you need to live on while the business pays you. An SBA conversation means you have talked to a 7(a) lender about eligibility. The program description is on sba.gov. The lender applies the current SOP 50 10.
Operating experience is the work you have done, written so a stranger can follow it. A written buy box is industry, geography, price, and the cash flow you need. An agent can search that. A mood cannot.
An advisor is a lawyer or an accountant you have actually named, or a mentoring conversation you have booked. SCORE and America's SBDC are the public places to start that search. The International Business Brokers Association publishes broker education; it does not assign you a broker, and NewHands does not either.
Time to operate is the honest question. If you will not be in the building, the listing needs a manager who already is. The score's action plan is the unchecked items, in order. Checking a box on a website does not create the fact.
Sources
Free to read. An account is only for saving a search or a listing.