Most people picture a small-business market that is thin and picked over. This week it held 9,209 businesses in our price band across 12 states, averaging $307,162, and only 5,467 of them published both price and profit. We took in and scored 5,263, and 4,141 cleared our credibility screen. Those are the listings where the numbers hold together. Florida had more listings in our price band than any other state. For anyone who suspects their own role is getting automated out from under them, a deep pool of owner-run businesses with real financials is worth studying before the pressure to decide arrives. Our examples assume 10% down, which is a modeling assumption and not a promise of what any lender will approve. Treat what follows as candidates to investigate, not conclusions.
THIS WEEK'S TOP DEALS
7 deals cleared our filters. Ranked by score.
Deal #1: PRETZEL FRANCHISE IN NEW YORK MARKET
NY
Asking: $499,000 | Revenue: $502,000 | Cash Flow: $168,000 Rev Multiple: 0.99x | CF Multiple: 2.97x | Score: 8.0/10
Green Flags:
DSCR 2.36x — clears the 1.25x lender floor 1.9x over, self-financing at current rates
33% cash flow margin — 33% of every revenue dollar reaches the owner
Full revenue and cash flow disclosed — financials available to underwrite
Franchise system — proven operations playbook, national brand recognition, lender-friendly structure
Operates without owner's daily presence — lower key-person risk at transition
A Wetzel's Pretzels franchise resale in the NYC metro, sold with a manager already in place and described by the broker as run absentee in a heavy-traffic location. It is takeout-only, with three employees and a $200,000 furniture and fixtures package included in the $499,000 ask, so the buyer is paying roughly 2.97x cash flow with meaningful equipment behind it. The leased premises are the diligence item to press on: confirm the remaining term and renewal rights, because in a high-traffic New York spot the lease is effectively what you're buying.
Deal #2: NATL FRANCHISE BRAND/$300K EARNINGS/$60K DOWN
TX · Professional Svcs · 11 years in operation
Asking: $600,000 | Revenue: $513,807 | Cash Flow: $300,233 Rev Multiple: 1.17x | CF Multiple: 2.00x | Score: 7.7/10
Green Flags:
DSCR 3.51x — clears the 1.25x lender floor 2.8x over, self-financing at current rates
58% cash flow margin — 58% of every revenue dollar reaches the owner
Full revenue and cash flow disclosed — financials available to underwrite
Franchise system — proven operations playbook, national brand recognition, lender-friendly structure
A franchise consulting practice in Tarrant County that sells for $600,000 against $300,233 in cash flow, with the owner retiring after 11 years under the brand. The seller says there is a full-time, commission-based Account Executive already producing, which matters because the usual failure with a book like this is that the revenue walks out with the person who closed it. The pitch is aimed at a corporate sales executive who can close and take over client relationships, and at 58% margins on a home-based operation with no inventory, the $85,634 annual debt service on a 10% down structure leaves plenty of room. Before getting excited, find out how much of the $513,807 revenue the departing owner personally originates versus what the Account Executive and the brand's referral flow deliver.
Deal #3: SEMI-ABSENTEE DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY FULLY REMOTE
NJ · Professional Svcs · 8 years in operation
Asking: $240,000 | Revenue: $168,000 | Cash Flow: $100,000 Rev Multiple: 1.43x | CF Multiple: 2.40x | Score: 7.7/10
Green Flags:
DSCR 2.92x — clears the 1.25x lender floor 2.3x over, self-financing at current rates
60% cash flow margin — 60% of every revenue dollar reaches the owner
Full revenue and cash flow disclosed — financials available to underwrite
Repeat or recurring clientele reported — demand that returns without a sales push; verify it isn't one relationship
Staff in place — not a job replacement; buyer steps into an operator role
Semi-absentee per the listing — owner involvement is part-time; confirm the hours on the first call
New Jersey-registered digital marketing agency built around ecommerce, wholesale apparel and DTF-adjacent brands, with seven clients on auto-renewing annual contracts and an international team that includes a manager overseeing delivery. The listing says the owner only sends invoices and that no sales or marketing is currently in place, which means the revenue has never been tested by a founder-led pipeline and the upside is untouched. At $240,000 for $100,000 in disclosed cash flow, it is 2.40x and the numbers clear the lender floor with room to spare; the diligence question is how long those seven contracts have actually been in place and what happens if the apparel niche loses a client or two.
Deal #4: PAVING AND SEALCOATING COMPANY IN EAST TEXAS
TX
Asking: $525,000 | Revenue: $672,434 | Cash Flow: $244,267 Rev Multiple: 0.78x | CF Multiple: 2.15x | Score: 7.6/10
Green Flags:
DSCR 3.26x — clears the 1.25x lender floor 2.6x over, self-financing at current rates
36% cash flow margin — 36% of every revenue dollar reaches the owner
Full revenue and cash flow disclosed — financials available to underwrite
Repeat or recurring clientele reported — demand that returns without a sales push; verify it isn't one relationship
Asphalt paving and sealcoating outfit in Wood County, East Texas, serving residential, commercial and municipal clients, priced at $525,000 against $244,267 in cash flow. At a 2.15x multiple and a 36% margin, DSCR lands at 3.26x on an SBA-style structure with $52,500 down. The asking price carries $140,400 of furniture and fixtures, and the listing reports repeat customers. It also says the owner is actively involved in daily operations, so the first diligence question is how much of the municipal and commercial work rides on his personal relationships.
Deal #5: ESTABLISHED LANDSCAPING BUSINESS
CA · Home Services · 13 years in operation
Asking: $525,000 | Revenue: $793,870 | Cash Flow: $248,970 Rev Multiple: 0.66x | CF Multiple: 2.11x | Score: 7.6/10
Green Flags:
DSCR 3.32x — clears the 1.25x lender floor 2.7x over, self-financing at current rates
31% cash flow margin — 31% of every revenue dollar reaches the owner
Full revenue and cash flow disclosed — financials available to underwrite
Repeat or recurring clientele reported — demand that returns without a sales push; verify it isn't one relationship
El Dorado County landscaping company with 13 years behind it, and the thing worth a buyer's attention is the owner's changed job: two crews now run independently while the owner estimates, schedules and polices quality. That is the right sequence for a first acquisition, because the owner is already out of the trucks. The seller projects 2026 revenue of roughly $640,000 to $680,000, which sits below the listing's $793,870 revenue figure, so get the trailing P&L and find out which number the $248,970 cash flow belongs to. At $525,000 and 2.11x cash flow, the maintenance accounts and defensible-space clearing work are what you are really underwriting.
Deal #6: POOL SERVICE BIZ IN DAVENPORT AREA
FL · Pool Service · 10 years in operation
Asking: $408,300 | Revenue: $500K - $1M | Cash Flow: $100K - $250K Rev Multiple: 0.54x | CF Multiple: 2.33x | Score: 7.5/10 Financing: cash only per the listing — no loan modelled
Green Flags:
23% cash margin — healthy for a Pool Service business in this price range (estimated from a disclosed range)
Revenue and cash flow disclosed only as seller-stated ranges or bounds — verify the exact figures before underwriting
Repeat or recurring clientele reported — demand that returns without a sales push; verify it isn't one relationship
A Davenport-area pool route with 392 residential accounts and $34,025 a month in recurring billing, which works out to roughly $408K a year before repair work and the extras the owner charges for. The listing rules out SBA, seller financing and E2 visas, so this is a cash purchase of $408,300 against a disclosed $100K-$250K cash flow range. The 2.33x multiple above is built on the $175K midpoint of the disclosed $100K-$250K range; at the $100K low end the price takes roughly four years to pay back, so treat it as an estimate and verify the actual cash flow. The ask is also exactly 12 times the monthly billing, which suggests the route was priced off billing rather than cash flow. A ten-year seller consolidating into a larger operation is a sensible reason to sell, and the route can be run from a home office. Check the real cash flow against the billing before wiring anything.
Deal #7: ESTABLISHED ICE CREAM FRANCHISE – TURNKEY & ABSENTEE
FL · 15 years in operation
Asking: $280,000 | Revenue: $363,251 | Cash Flow: $111,852 Rev Multiple: 0.77x | CF Multiple: 2.50x | Score: 7.5/10
Green Flags:
DSCR 2.80x — clears the 1.25x lender floor 2.2x over, self-financing at current rates
31% cash flow margin — 31% of every revenue dollar reaches the owner
Full revenue and cash flow disclosed — financials available to underwrite
Franchise system — proven operations playbook, national brand recognition, lender-friendly structure
Operates without owner's daily presence — lower key-person risk at transition
Ben & Jerry's franchise resale in Orlando with 7 staff, a 1,200 sq ft store that has traded for 15 years, and a seller who only handles administration before relocating. At $280,000 and 2.5x cash flow, the listing's $85,000 of furniture and fixtures is a meaningful share of the price, so confirm it is included in the ask. The listing shows a lease expiration of 1/31/2026, which has already passed, so the first call is to the landlord and franchisor: the renewal terms, not the ice cream, decide what this business is worth.
MARKET PULSE — Week of October 16, 2026
9,209 businesses were listed in our price band across 12 states this week. 5,467 of them (59%) published both price and profit — the only ones that can be scored. We feature 7.
The inventory:
Average asking price: $307,162 | Median: $255,000
Scanned 5,263 of the 5,467 scoreable listings (96%); the credibility screen then removed 1,122 — 406 missing a required financial, 226 implausible financials, 221 byte-identical financials (whole cluster dropped), 159 licensure-locked, 61 no stated asking price (band only), 33 near-duplicate relistings, 11 sold/unavailable listings, 5 non-acquisition (franchise-development & recruitment ads)
Price distribution: 38% under $200K · 34% $200–400K · 16% $400–600K · 11% over $600K
Where the deals are:
Florida led with 1,512 listings, followed by Texas (766), New York (685)
Geographic spread was broad this week, with inventory across multiple regions. Sun Belt markets remain the most active, but deals are surfacing in secondary markets that are often less competitive for qualified buyers.
Deal quality this week:
Best multiple among featured deals with fully disclosed financials: 2.00x (meaning about 2.0 years to pay back the purchase price from cash flow alone)
Strong week for deal quality — the top 7 averaged 7.7/10 on our scoring model. A high score flags a candidate worth a first call, not a confirmed buy — verify each one's numbers before you move.
One thing to watch: Three of this week's seven featured deals are franchise resales. That matters because a franchise resale is a different purchase from an independent business: the franchisor typically holds approval rights, and a transfer can bring fees and training requirements that an independent seller never has. The pretzel and ice cream listings lean on 'absentee' or 'turnkey' language, but the franchise agreement, not the seller's pitch, decides what you can change about how the unit runs. Before an LOI on any of them, ask for the current Franchise Disclosure Document, the transfer fee schedule, and written confirmation of the franchisor's approval process and timeline. Then compare them with the independents on the list, the digital marketing agency, the paving company, the landscaper and the pool route, where the only approval you need is the seller's. If a franchise seller can't give you the transfer terms in writing, take that as your answer.
THE WATCHLIST
What's become of the deals we've featured before.
⚠️ Artisan Chocolate Business-$265k Sales-20+ Years — no longer appears in our latest scan; it may have sold, been delisted, or gone off-market (first featured #004).
⚠️ AI Agent Automation And Enterprise Transformation — no longer appears in our latest scan; it may have sold, been delisted, or gone off-market (first featured #010).
⏳ Education Center Franchise For Sale In South Fort Worth — relisted under a new listing as of our latest scan; we're holding it out of this week's picks because we featured it recently (first featured #013).
⏳ Absentee Owner Pizza Shop — relisted under a new listing as of our latest scan; we're holding it out of this week's picks because we featured it recently (first featured #013).
⏳ Franchise Sandwich Shop For Sale In East Dallas — relisted under a new listing as of our latest scan; we're holding it out of this week's picks because we featured it recently (first featured #014).
THE DEAL BREAKDOWN
Iconic Local Bakery with Longstanding Reputation
TX · Food & Beverage · 20 years in operation
This week we dissect one deal in depth — chosen for what it teaches, not its rank in this week's list — Score: 7.5/10. Here's everything you need to decide if it's worth pursuing: the numbers, the financing structure, what to verify in due diligence, and the bull and bear cases.
The numbers at a glance:
Asking price: $680,000
Revenue: $1,052,168
Cash flow: $290,490
The SBA financing structure:
Down payment (10%): $68,000 — what you need out of pocket at close
SBA 7(a) loan: $612,000 at ~10% (assumed), 10-year term
Monthly debt service: $8,088
Monthly take-home after debt service: $16,120
Annual take-home: $193,438
Cash-on-cash return: 284%
Screening criteria:
Criterion | Target | Actual | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
CF multiple | <3.0x | 2.34x | Pass |
Revenue multiple | <2.5x | 0.65x | Pass |
DSCR (SBA 1.25x floor) | ≥1.25x | 2.99x | Pass |
Cash margin | ≥15% | 28% | Pass |
Years in business | ≥5 | 20 | Pass |
Financials disclosed | Full | Full | Pass |
Verdict: Worth the First Call — financials hold up and the lender math works; a high score flags a candidate, not a confirmed buy.
What's working for this deal:
DSCR 2.99x — clears the 1.25x lender floor 2.4x over, self-financing at current rates
28% cash margin — healthy for a Food & Beverage business in this price range
Full revenue and cash flow disclosed — financials available to underwrite
Franchise system — proven operations playbook, national brand recognition, lender-friendly structure
Quality of earnings — normalize before you trust the number:
[ ] Owner compensation: is market-rate replacement salary already subtracted from SDE?
[ ] One-time items: any non-recurring revenue (PPP, insurance claim, one-off contract) inflating the figure?
[ ] Personal expenses: vehicle, phone, travel, family payroll run through the business?
[ ] Capex: is equipment aged and likely to need replacement in years 1-3?
[ ] Working capital: what's the normalized WC requirement at closing?
The bull case: The seller names catering, wholesale accounts with local restaurants, coffee shops and grocers, online ordering with delivery, and custom cakes as untapped growth, which suits an operator who can run a sales and marketing function on top of the franchise systems, to the extent the franchise agreement allows it. The business starts from a 2.99x DSCR on the pipeline's standard SBA structure, so a buyer has room to fund that push without being squeezed by debt service. With 13 trained staff and an owner retiring rather than a unit in trouble, the buyer takes over a working bakery with a long local track record, not a turnaround.
The bear case: The biggest risk is the franchise layer: the sale needs the franchisor's approval, so the first diligence items are the franchise agreement's transfer terms, remaining term and any renewal or remodel obligations, plus the royalty and marketing fees that sit inside the $290,490 figure. Ask the franchisor in writing whether it will approve you and on what timeline, and get the lease assignment terms and remaining runway from the landlord. Then test owner-dependence: ask for the retiring owner's weekly hours and role, and request a paid transition period in the purchase agreement, because a 13-person production bakery rarely runs unattended.
Key questions for the first call:
What's included in the stated cash flow — are owner salary, personal expenses, and one-time items already normalized out of SDE?
What share of sales comes from repeat customers versus walk-in traffic, and how have foot traffic and transaction counts trended over the last two to three years?
Will key staff stay post-acquisition, and are any of them critical to operations or customer relationships?
What does the trailing 3-year revenue trend look like — growing, flat, or declining — and what drove any significant year-over-year changes?
Next steps if you're interested:
Request 3 years of tax returns and P&Ls — match them against the stated SDE
Get a Preferred SBA Lender on the phone before submitting an LOI
Schedule a call with the seller to work through the key questions above
Sign the LOI only after financials verify and seller motivation is confirmed
Financing Edge: Why the SBA Coverage Floor Barely Touches Most of This Week's Deals
SBA 7(a) lenders want to see that a business can pay its own loan. Under SOP 50 10 8.1, an initial acquisition needs historical debt service coverage of at least 1.25 to 1. Plainly: for every $1.00 of annual loan payments, the business must have produced at least $1.25 of cash flow. Everything else about the loan sits downstream of that floor.
Same Loan Terms, Very Different Cushions
Our examples assume a 10% rate, a 10-year term and 10% down. That is an assumption, not a quoted rate, and the 10% down matches the SBA's minimum equity injection for an acquisition. Hold those terms constant and coverage is decided by one thing: how much cash flow sits behind each dollar of price.
Deal | Asking | Cash flow | Multiple | Annual debt service | DSCR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pretzel franchise, NYC Metro | $499,000 | $168,000 | 2.97x | $71,219 | 2.36x |
Digital marketing agency, NJ | $240,000 | $100,000 | 2.40x | $34,253 | 2.92x |
Franchise consulting practice, Tarrant County | $600,000 | $300,233 | 2.00x | $85,634 | 3.51x |
Multiple and coverage move in lockstep, so the table is arithmetic, not a finding. The consulting practice is not a better business than the pretzel franchise because it has a higher DSCR. It simply costs fewer dollars per dollar of earnings, and the same loan terms turn that into more cushion.
Where the Floor Bites
At 2.97x, the pretzel franchise sits at the top of this week's multiples, and its 2.36x coverage is the thinnest on the slate. It still clears 1.25x by a wide margin. The floor is not the obstacle here. The cushion is nearly double the minimum, but the cash flow is only a stated figure, and the lender underwrites verified cash flow, not the listing's number.
That is where the floor actually bites. Coverage is calculated on the cash flow a lender will accept. If a lender trims the stated $168,000 after reviewing tax returns and add-backs, the cushion shrinks by that amount. The consulting practice's 3.51x has far more room to absorb the same haircut before reaching 1.25x. The headline ratio tells you how much room you have if the number holds, not whether it will.
What Coverage Does Not Tell You
A strong DSCR says the business can carry the debt. It does not say the debt is the only claim on that cash. The consulting practice's listing shows a 58% margin, which raises its own diligence question: a margin that high usually means owner labor is not fully priced in. Ask what the owner actually does each week and what replacing that work costs. A DSCR built on cash flow that disappears when the owner leaves is not coverage.
The same goes for the equity side. Seller debt can count toward at most half of the required injection, and only if it is subordinated and on full standby, with no payments for the life of the 7(a) loan. A deal that leans on a seller note to close the gap gets no payment relief from it in the lender's math.
What to Do This Week
Pick one deal and ask the broker for two years of tax returns, then compare the stated cash flow to what the returns support.
Ask a lender what cash flow figure they would underwrite before you model anything. Their number, not the listing's, sets your real coverage.
Treat any DSCR near 1.25x as a deal with no margin for error, and any DSCR above 2x as room to negotiate, not a reason to stop checking.
Sector Scan: Three Sectors, Six Listings: Where Thick Margins Meet Durable Demand
This week's slate leans on three sectors: franchise food, home and outdoor services, and remote professional services. They don't offer the same bargain. Two of them have a pattern worth understanding; the third has a margin that needs a harder look.
The margin ranking
Margin here is the seller's stated cash flow divided by stated revenue. These are seller-reported numbers, not verified ones, and the multiples are asking multiples: what each seller hopes to get.
Sector | Listing | Asking multiple | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
Remote professional services | Digital agency (NJ) | 2.40x | 60% |
Remote professional services | Franchise consulting (Tarrant County) | 2.00x | 58% |
Home and outdoor | Paving and sealcoating (East Texas) | 2.15x | 36% |
Franchise food | Pretzel franchise (NYC Metro) | 2.97x | 33% |
Home and outdoor | Landscaping (El Dorado County) | 2.11x | 31% |
Franchise food | Ice cream franchise (Orlando) | 2.50x | 31% |
Professional services carries margins close to double the other two sectors. Franchise food carries the two highest asking multiples, at margins no better than home and outdoor services.
Remote professional services: thickest margin, softest demand
A 60% margin is what you'd expect when the cost base is mostly the owner's time. That is also the risk. The digital agency lists at $168,000 in revenue and $100,000 in cash flow, and the franchise consulting practice at $513,807 in revenue and $300,233 in cash flow. Neither number says how much of that cash flow is the seller's own labor.
Durable demand is the open question. The digital agency's seven clients are on annual auto-renewing contracts, which helps, but a renewal is still a decision point, and a practice built on relationships can follow the seller out the door. Ask for client concentration, contract terms, and how many accounts have renewed past one year. Margin is high, but it is only durable if the revenue survives the handoff.
Home and outdoor services: the best pairing
The East Texas paving company (36% margin) and the El Dorado landscaping business (31%) sit in the middle on margin. Their demand is tied to physical things that keep needing maintenance: driveways crack, lawns grow. Customers can't switch to a remote competitor.
The caveats are real. Paving and landscaping are seasonal and weather-exposed, and both depend on crews and equipment. Ask for monthly revenue across two full years to see the seasonal swing, and get an equipment list with ages and condition. The listings state the margin; they don't state what it costs to replace a truck or a paving machine.
Franchise food: priced for the brand
The pretzel unit asks 2.97x and the ice cream unit 2.50x, both at 31–33% margins. Those are the two highest asking multiples on the slate, for margins in the low 30s. What the seller is betting on is the system itself: brand recognition, supplier terms, and a proven playbook. Both listings show leased premises, so the lease is part of what you're buying.
The buyer's work is on franchise terms: royalties, required remodels, transfer fees, and whether the franchisor must approve the sale. Get the franchise agreement before anything else.
The verdict
On this slate, home and outdoor services come closest to pairing solid margins with durable demand. Professional services have the thickest margins but the softest revenue base. Franchise food asks the highest multiples for margins no better than home and outdoor services.
This week: pick the sector that fits what you can verify. For a services business, request two years of monthly revenue and a client list. For a franchise unit, request the franchise agreement. Don't compare asking multiples until you have the document that tells you what the multiple is paying for.
Disclaimer: Nothing here is financial or legal advice. Always do your own due diligence. Verify all financial data with sellers and your advisors before making any offers.
The Exit Ramp is a weekly deal curation service for professionals exploring small business acquisition. We scan hundreds of listings so you don't have to.
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