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What Business Can I Afford?

Q: How much business can I buy with $100,000 down?

It depends on the industry and the loan. With a 10% SBA down payment, $100,000 down caps the price at $1,000,000. But the price also has to leave you enough after loan payments: the smallest deal that pays a $150,000 income is about $624,000 for a home-services company and about $950,000 for an HVAC company at a 10% rate over 10 years. This calculator shows both ends of that window.

Q: What DSCR do SBA lenders want?

SBA lenders test debt-service coverage at 1.25x: the business's seller's discretionary earnings (SDE) must be at least 1.25 times the annual loan payment. Under SOP 50 10 8.1 the test runs on historical earnings, so a forward-looking estimate is a benchmark to compare against, not a pass/fail verdict.

Q: Why does the same down payment buy a bigger restaurant than a car wash?

Because price is a multiple of SDE, and multiples differ by industry. A restaurant sells at about 2.15x SDE, a car wash at about 4.5x SDE. One dollar of earnings buys more restaurant than car wash — but the restaurant also earns a thinner margin, so the loan payment eats more of it.

Enter the cash you can put down and the income you need to live on. Pick an industry. We show you the biggest business your cash can buy — and the smallest deal that still pays you after the loan. If the smallest is bigger than the biggest, that industry does not work on these terms yet.

Start with your money, not with a listing. Most buyers fall in love with a business first and check the loan second. This runs it the other way round, using the same researched SDE multiples and loan terms as the main acquisition calculator.

Your numbers

Changes update the answer live.

Your money

Cash you can put down

Money for the down payment itself. Closing costs and a cash buffer are added separately below, so the total cash you need will be higher than this number.

Income you need per year

The pay you need to take home from the business each year, after the loan is paid. Think salary replacement, not revenue.

Industry

What kind of business?

Loan terms

SBA 7(a) defaults. The down payment here is the SBA minimum — 10% total, at least 5% from your own funds.

Interest rate

Loan term

yrs

Down payment

Lender DSCR test

DSCR is the lender's coverage test: business earnings divided by the annual loan payment. SBA lenders look for 1.25x. Self-storage is the exception — it is normally bought with long-term property debt, not a 10-year SBA loan, so it fails this test on purpose. See the note under the verdict.

Cash on top

Working-capital buffer

Cash to keep in the business after closing — for payroll, suppliers, and the first slow month. Closing costs are 2% of the price on top of this (legal and diligence typically run 1–4%).

Biggest price your cash allows—down payment ÷ down %

Smallest price that pays you—income need ÷ cash left per $1

Cash left per year at max price—after the loan is paid

DSCR at any price—lender test, needs 1.25x

—

At the biggest price your cash allows

What that deal looks like, using this industry's researched averages.

Line	Amount

Why DSCR does not change with price: a bigger business in the same industry earns proportionally more, so earnings and loan payment grow together. What changes with price is the cash you need to close and the cash you keep each year — that is why the answer is a window, not a single number.

At the smallest price that pays you

The cheapest deal in this industry that still leaves you your income after the loan.

Line	Amount

What would change the answer?

Found your range? Price a specific deal.

Take the price into the full acquisition calculator — five-year P&L, cash flow, working capital, and both DSCRs — with this industry already selected.

Price a specific deal →

Every industry, on your numbers

Same cash, same income need, same loan. Sorted by the smallest price that pays you. A lower multiple or a fatter margin means a smaller deal can pay you.

Industry	Price multiple	SDE margin	Smallest price that pays you	DSCR	Fits your cash?

Multiples and margins are the researched defaults from the main calculator. Self-storage is priced on a 6.5% cap rate, not a multiple — see the sources below.

Built for your deal, not just the model

Want this run on your actual numbers?

This calculator uses industry averages. Your deal has its own earnings, its own lender, and its own diligence questions — David runs those by hand.

Model Build — $1,500 · a full acquisition model built for your deal
Valuation — $950 · an independent read on what the business is worth
FP&A Advisory — $125/hr · diligence, cash flow, and lender questions, answered

See services on Contra

Built by David Hu, Director of Finance & Accounting, MBA — 15+ years in manufacturing and logistics finance.

Questions buyers actually ask

How much business can I buy with $100,000 down?

With a 10% SBA down payment, $100,000 down caps the price at $1,000,000. But the price also has to leave you enough after loan payments. For a $150,000 income need at 10% over 10 years, the smallest deal that pays you is about $624,000 for home services and about $950,000 for HVAC. This page shows both ends of that window for every industry.

What DSCR do SBA lenders want?

1.25x. The business's SDE must be at least 1.25 times the annual loan payment. Under SOP 50 10 8.1 the test runs on historical earnings, so a forward-looking estimate is a benchmark to compare against, not a pass/fail verdict. A quality-of-earnings report is mandatory for purchase prices of $3M or more.

Why does the same down payment buy a bigger restaurant than a car wash?

Price is a multiple of SDE, and multiples differ by industry. A restaurant sells at about 2.15x SDE, a car wash at about 4.5x SDE. One dollar of earnings buys more restaurant than car wash — but the restaurant also earns a thinner margin, so the loan payment eats more of it. The comparison table below shows the trade-off for all 19 industries.

Is this lender approval?

No. This is an estimate from researched industry averages, not a lender decision. Real approval depends on the actual business's tax returns, your credit, the lender's underwriting, and a quality-of-earnings review where required. Verify every number with your lender before you make an offer.

Where the numbers come from

Industry multiples and margins — the same researched defaults as the main acquisition calculator (fetched from the live repo, Nov 12, 2026): revenue, EBITDA margin, and SDE multiple per preset. SDE margin is EBITDA margin with the owner's pay already inside it, except general contractor, where SDE runs ~23% of revenue including owner comp while EBITDA alone is 8% (BizBuySell). Self-storage is priced on NOI at a 6.5% cap rate (sector avg 6.59%), not a multiple.

Loan rate 10% — SBA 7(a) typical: prime 7.00% + 3.0% max spread for loans over $350K (Fed H.15 / SBA, Oct 2026). Re-check after the Dec 8–9 FOMC meeting.

DSCR 1.25x — SBA 7(a) test under SOP 50 10 8.1, effective Oct 1, 2026.

Down payment 10% — SBA 7(a) minimum (5% from your own funds); 15% is a typical buyer contribution.

Closing costs 2% — typical deal costs run 1–4% of price before financing fees (legal + diligence 1–3%).

Disclaimer: This free calculator is an educational planning tool, not investment, accounting, tax, or lending advice. It uses industry averages, not any specific business's financials. Validate assumptions and deal terms with qualified advisers and your lender before relying on the output.