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Creative Acquisitions: Reader Guide and Practical Questions

Explore Creative Acquisitions by Dr. Connor Robertson: its core subject, reader questions and practical AI-assisted companion resources.

Use this guide to understand the book subject and choose practical next reading. Answers are original website explanations, not quotations from the book or claims about reader outcomes. Related questions share this guide so the site has one clear place to answer the core topic.

What is Creative Acquisitions about?

Creative Acquisitions explores business acquisition structures, seller financing, earn-outs, negotiation and diligence. The companion resources help buyers translate those subjects into research files, financing comparisons and transition plans. The new AI material is website learning content rather than an invented book excerpt.

How do you buy an existing business?

Define a buy box, source candidates, screen fit, discuss seller expectations, evaluate records, arrange financing and negotiate documented terms. Coordinate professional diligence and plan the transition before closing. The sequence varies by transaction, but operating feasibility belongs in every stage.

What is seller financing?

Seller financing means the seller accepts some purchase consideration through a payment obligation rather than receiving all of it at closing. Interest, payment timing, security, maturity and conditions matter. Compare written proposals using actual terms and confirm how they coordinate with any other financing.

How does an earn-out differ from a seller note?

An earn-out ties some consideration to specified future conditions or performance. A seller note documents a debt obligation under its terms. A transaction can contain both. Define the measurement, timing, access to records and dispute process for contingent consideration with the appropriate advisors.

What is rollover equity?

Rollover equity generally means the seller retains or receives an ownership interest in the post-transaction structure. It changes the relationship beyond a cash sale. Economics, governance, transfer rights, distributions and eventual exit arrangements need clear documentation.

What belongs in acquisition due diligence?

Review financial records, customers, employees, owner duties, contracts, legal matters, technology, financing and transition requirements. Assign specialists to the relevant areas. The diligence list should reflect the business and deal structure rather than treating every acquisition as identical.

How do SDE and EBITDA differ?

Seller discretionary earnings and EBITDA are earnings measures with different adjustments and common uses. Confirm how each figure was calculated. Neither is the same as buyer cash after management, financing and reinvestment. Reconcile a quoted metric before using it in valuation.

How should buyers review add-backs?

Identify each adjustment, its source, whether it will recur and whether the buyer will need a replacement expense. An expense removed from the seller accounts may still represent work or capacity the buyer must fund. Review the resulting operating model, not just the adjusted total.

What is a working capital peg?

A working capital peg establishes a reference amount for specified working capital delivered at closing under the transaction agreement. Definitions, accounting rules, measurement dates and adjustment mechanics matter. Review those terms alongside the cash needed for the business to operate after closing.

What belongs in the first 100 days?

Protect customers, employees, payroll, cash access and system continuity first. Establish management reporting next. Then sequence a small number of improvements around available capacity. Give every task an owner, deliverable and date; preserve seller handoff commitments in the plan.

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Find the book and the author

Start on the book homepage for chapter information and the available purchase options. Explore the Dr. Connor Robertson book collection, author website and author wiki for related personal publications and background.