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youssef@ravencheck.com
Red-flag diligence for SMB buyers

Every seller claim,
checked.

The numbers in the CIM are the seller's numbers. Before you wire your savings and sign a personal guarantee, we check every figure against sold comparables and cite each one to its source document. 48 hours. $149 flat.

Screen my deal → See a sample flag

Full refund within 7 days if the report misses this standard.
Solo analyst. Five new engagements per week.

median SDE multiple, sold SMBs: 2.7x median sale price: $349,250 buyers using SBA financing: 78% full QoE engagement: $8,000+ RavenCheck Listing Screen: $149 / 48h
Why this exists

What you cannot verify before closing, you own after closing.

From the field · August 2026

Two partners bought two landscaping businesses with SBA loans. Six months after the second closing, a commission liability nobody had surfaced came out of the woodwork. The seller read it one way, they read it another. Legal fees ate six figures. Key employees left and started competing. Both companies shut down, cross-collateralized, and the buyer is now filing for personal bankruptcy.

One undisclosed line item repriced the entire deal. A $149 screen exists so that never becomes your story.

Services

Fixed price. Fixed timeline. No calls unless you want one.

A full Quality of Earnings engagement costs $8,000 to $30,000 and takes weeks, so most sub-$1M deals close with no independent check at all. RavenCheck is the step that was missing.

Listing Screen

$149

Pre-LOI. The listing's numbers against what the market actually paid.

  • 3 to 5 concrete red flags, or a clean bill with caveats
  • Asking price vs. sold benchmark multiples
  • Margin and cash flow sanity checks
  • In your inbox within 48 hours
Screen my deal →

Red Flag Review

$499

Under LOI. Line-by-line review of seller-provided financials.

  • Every figure traced to its source document
  • Add-backs tested one by one
  • Revenue concentration and customer-mix risk flags
  • In your inbox within 72 hours
Start by email: youssef@ravencheck.com →

Pipeline Retainer

From $500/mo

For active searchers with a full deal pipeline.

  • Every target on your desk, covered
  • Priority turnaround, every time
  • Direct line, same-day answers
Start by email: youssef@ravencheck.com →
Proof

What a red flag looks like

Actual output from a recent engagement. Plumbing business listed at $1,000,000, claimed SDE $265,000.

Flag 01 · Pricing
Priced above the upper quartile

The ask implies 3.77x SDE. Sold plumbing businesses trade at a 2.24x median and a 3.15x upper quartile (226 transactions, 2021 to 2025). Nothing in the listing documents a premium asset.

Source: listing financials · BizBuySell plumbing benchmark set

Flag 02 · Margins
Below-standard margins at an above-standard price

Claimed SDE margin is 16.8% against a segment norm near 26.5%. The price says premium business. The margin says below-average operator. Both cannot be true at once.

Source: listing financials · BizBuySell financial benchmarks

Flag 03 · Financing
Debt coverage breaks if SDE is dressed

At claimed SDE, SBA 7(a) debt service coverage works. If even $50k of add-backs fail verification, coverage breaks and the bank walks before you do.

Source: SBA 7(a) underwriting standards · listing financials

Process

How it works

01

Send the deal. The listing link or the CIM. Scope confirmed within hours.

02

We check. Benchmarks, public records, and the documents provided. Every claim cited.

03

You decide. A 2 to 4 page report: red flags ranked by deal impact, with sources. Walk away early or proceed to full diligence with your eyes open.

Start

One screen can save the deal
you should never have closed.

Screen my deal, $149 →

Delivered in 48 hours · full refund within 7 days · youssef@ravencheck.com