Most market updates tell you what happened. This one tells you what to do about it.
I have owned companies since 1999 and I have been working since I was 13. What follows is how I read the tape, not how a research desk reads it.
The Signal
In the second quarter, 2,117 small businesses changed hands, down 10% from the quarter before and down 10% from a year ago. Median sale price held at $349,250. Median cash flow, $155,921. Buyers paid about 2.7 times cash flow.
Here's the line in that report that matters more than the multiple.
90% of buyers expect seller financing. Only 29% of owners plan to offer it.
That gap is where deals go to die.
A seller note is not charity. It is the owner saying, out loud, that the numbers will still be there next year. Refuse to carry any paper and the buyer hears the opposite, no matter what the add backs say.
Source: BizBuySell Q2 2026 Insight Report.
The Teardown
One listing from this month, read the way a buyer should read it.
A property management franchise in Hawaii. Asking $205K. Cash flow listed at $235K.
Cash flow above the asking price looks like a gift. It's a question.
On Main Street listings, cash flow usually means the owner's earnings, salary included. So a price under one year of cash flow often means you are buying a job with a brand on it, not a machine that runs without you.
Sometimes that job is worth buying. You just want to know which one you're getting before you wire.
Three things I would ask before anything else:
The add backs, line by line. Which of those costs come back the day you take over...
The franchise agreement. How many years left, what the transfer fee is, and what renewal costs.
Who the clients call when something breaks. If the answer is the owner, you just met the real asset.
Spotted in BizScout's Scout Report.
The Number
58% of owners planning an exit have never had the business formally appraised. 48% have no formal exit strategy at all.
A plan built on a number you made up is a wish with a calendar on it.
Source: UBS Investor Watch survey of business owners.
The Move
This week, pick one.
If you are inside three years of selling, get a real valuation and decide your seller financing position now, at your kitchen table, not across from a buyer who already knows what he wants.
If you are buying, go pull one listing where cash flow is close to the asking price and answer the three questions above. You will learn more in an hour than in a month of scrolling.
That's forward motion for the week. One number, one deal, one move.
Forward motion,
Fadi
P.S. Thursday I opened the waitlist for the Forward Motion Sprint. Two weeks, live, 20 seats, selected by application. If you missed it, reply to this email with the word SPRINT and you are on the list... applications go to the waitlist first.
If someone forwarded this to you, you can get it every Monday and Thursday at joinfadimalouf.com. If it was useful, send it to one owner or buyer who is sitting on a decision.
This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, financial instruments, or investment products. FM Enterprises and Fadi Malouf do not provide legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. Any business, acquisition, or capital related discussion is subject to further review, appropriate due diligence, and applicable professional guidance.