Private Business Due Diligence

Know exactly what you're buying

Five-page investor-grade analysis. QoE normalisation, three-year trend analysis, sector benchmarking, and a 12-vector risk matrix — then a verdict you can table with confidence.

◆ ACTIVE
v2.0
DD ENGINE
12 VECTORS
Three-year trend analysis
QoE earnings normalisation
Sector benchmark comparison
12-vector scoring
Five-page investor report
Print-ready PDF
01 — The Market

A market worth billions.
Served with a spreadsheet and a prayer.

The UK alone sees over 30,000 private business transactions a year. The vast majority of buyers go in underprepared — relying on vendor-supplied numbers, gut instinct, and overpriced advisors who move slowly.

£2.4bn
Spent annually on business acquisitions in the UK SME market
Companies House, BVA BDRC SME Finance Monitor 2024
60%
Of buyers later report overpaying for an acquired business
Due to inadequate pre-acquisition due diligence — Deloitte Private Equity Survey
£8–25k
What a traditional DD firm charges for a report
Average engagement cost, mid-market accounting firms 2024
4–8wk
Average time to receive a formal DD report
By which point, motivated sellers have moved on
"The problem isn't that buyers don't want to do due diligence. The problem is that by the time the accountants have filed their report, the deal is dead or the seller has taken a better offer."

Private business acquisition is one of the last major financial decisions still made with inadequate intelligence. The tools exist — the data exists — but no one had assembled them into a fast, affordable, investor-grade workflow.

Business Hunter closes that gap. Not as a replacement for formal legal and tax due diligence — but as the intelligence layer that comes first. The report that tells you whether the deal is worth pursuing, what the real numbers look like, and exactly what to ask the seller before you spend a penny on advisors.

For a serious buyer, it pays for itself before you finish reading it.

02 — What Business Hunter Does

The analysis a sharp analyst does on day one — in minutes.

Based on your business information pack, Business Hunter runs the same disciplined due diligence process a seasoned acquisition analyst would follow — without the billable hours.

001
Quality of Earnings
Strips owner salary distortion, personal expenses, one-off items and deferred maintenance from reported profit to reveal true normalised EBITDA — the number that actually matters for valuation.
002
Three-Year Trend Analysis
Revenue trajectory, profit trajectory, and CAGR over three years with visual charting. Spots window dressing, one-year wonders, and genuine structural growth.
003
Sector Benchmarking
Every metric — EBITDA margin, P/E multiple, revenue multiple — is benchmarked against real sector ranges for 12 industry categories. You know immediately if the asking price is fair, cheap, or aggressive.
004
12-Vector Scoring
Browser-calculated weighted score across revenue quality, profit quality, valuation, earnings integrity, working capital, lease security, key person risk, staff, customer concentration, supplier risk, reason for sale, and market position.
005
Operational Risk Matrix
Ten risk categories — lease, key person, staff, suppliers, customers, market, reason for sale, legal, working capital, post-acquisition — each rated LOW to CRITICAL with specific findings.
006
Questions & Formal DD Pack
Eight probing questions the seller will not enjoy, plus a full formal DD document request list and a briefing note telling your appointed firm exactly where to focus their time.
03 — The Report

Five pages. Nothing wasted.

Every report follows the same structure — built to be read quickly by a buyer, and tabled confidently with investors or advisors.

P1
Verdict & 12-Vector Scorecard
Immediate BUY / HOLD / AVOID stamp, weighted score with bar chart breakdown, executive summary, key positives and red flags.
P2
Three-Year Financial Trends
Visual revenue and profit charts, year-on-year margin table, revenue quality narrative, and analyst financial commentary.
P3
QoE & Valuation
Full Quality of Earnings waterfall — from reported EBITDA to normalised. True acquisition multiple vs sector benchmark table. Valuation assessment.
P4
Operational Risk Matrix
Ten-category risk table with severity ratings. Property and lease analysis. Working capital health. Post-acquisition risk assessment.
P5
DD Priorities & Seller Questions
Eight targeted questions for the seller. Full formal DD document request list. Briefing note for your solicitor or accountant.
PDF
Print-Ready / Shareable
Every report is print-ready for PDF export. Table it in a meeting, share with a co-investor, or brief your formal DD team.
04 — Why Business Hunter

Faster than waiting. Cheaper than hiring it out.

You already know due diligence matters. Business Hunter isn't here to replace your solicitor or accountant — it's here to make sure you only call them when the deal is worth it.

Business HunterDo It YourselfAccounting FirmFiverr / Freelance
Turnaround timeDays to weeks4–8 weeks3–5 days
Quality of Earnings (QoE)If you know howYes — at costRarely
Sector benchmark comparisonIf you have the dataYesUsually not
3-year trend with chartsManual buildIncludedVariable
12-vector risk matrixIf you rememberIncludedRarely structured
Questions for the sellerYour judgmentIncludedVariable
Formal DD briefing noteN/AThey write itNo
CostYour weekend£8,000–£25,000£300–£1,500

Business Hunter is not a substitute for legal or tax due diligence. It is the intelligence layer that comes first — so you only commission formal DD when the deal deserves it.

05 — Pricing

Two ways to hunt.

Pay per report, or run as many as you need. No contracts, no retainers — just the intelligence, when you need it.

Single Report
£79
one-off

Perfect for vetting a specific deal. Pay once, get the full five-page report, own it permanently.

  • Full five-page investor-grade report
  • QoE normalisation + 12-vector score
  • Sector benchmark comparison
  • Seller questions + formal DD briefing
  • Print-ready PDF export
  • No account required
Buy Single Report →
Enterprise / Advisor
Let's talk

For M&A advisors, brokers, and acquisition firms running volume. White-label and API options available.

  • Volume pricing for deal teams
  • White-label report output
  • API access for workflow integration
  • Dedicated account support
  • Custom sector benchmarks
  • Bespoke scoring configuration
Get in touch →

All reports are delivered instantly in-browser and as print-ready PDF. Single reports are non-refundable once the analysis has run. Subscriptions cancel immediately with no further charge.

06 — Sample Report

What a hunt looks like.

A real-format report on a fictional restaurant acquisition — the kind of deal where the numbers look fine until you look properly.

◆ Business Hunter · Sample Report
The Merchant Kitchen Ltd
Restaurant / Café·Bristol, UK·Generated for illustration
HOLD
Normalised earnings are 38% below reported — true multiple is 7.2x in a sector where 3.5x is the ceiling.
C
Hunter Score · 53/100
Revenue (Y3)
£624,000
↑ 8.2% CAGR (3yr)
Normalised EBITDA
£68,400
vs reported £110,200
Asking Multiple
7.2x
Sector ceiling: 3.5x
Lease Remaining
4 years
No renewal confirmed
Quality of Earnings — EBITDA Normalisation
Reported EBITDA
£110,200
− Owner salary adjustment (market rate gap: £52k vs £28k drawn)
− £24,000
− Owner personal expenses through business
− £9,800
+ One-off legal costs (add back)
+ £4,200
− Revenue from one-off events contract (non-recurring)
− £8,600
− Deferred maintenance estimate
− £3,600
Normalised EBITDA
£68,400
H
Hunter's Verdict
The revenue story is solid — genuine 8% CAGR over three years, healthy footfall, strong local reputation. The problem is entirely in the numbers the vendor chose to present. Strip out the salary distortion and the events contract that won't repeat, and you're paying 7.2x normalised earnings for a leasehold with four years left and no renewal guarantee. At asking price, this is a HOLD at best. At a 35% reduction, it becomes a conversation worth having.
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