01 / ACQUISITION THINKING
How to write a useful acquisition brief
Turn an interest in buying a business into specific, testable criteria.
Read the guideACQUISITION GUIDES
Better questions.
Better-prepared decisions.
Practical frameworks for defining your brief and thinking about a future acquisition. Prepare a clear brief and understand what to investigate before making a commitment.
02 / ACQUISITION THINKING
Before you make an offer
Five areas to examine when an actual acquisition opportunity becomes available.
Read the guide03 / ACQUISITION THINKING
Price, value and your total commitment
Keep the headline number, operating economics and acquisition costs distinct.
Read the guideOwnership. Returns.
The full picture.
ORDENNE PERSPECTIVE
Business ownership or property? Compare the work behind the return.
Business ownership deserves a place in the comparison, but the higher headline number is only the beginning.
Read the perspective ↗ORDENNE PERSPECTIVE
Business ROI, cash yield and payback: three different questions.
Separate annual cash generation, recovery of capital and the outcome at exit.
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EBITDA is not the cash you can take home.
A useful bridge from reported earnings to investable cash.
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Are you buying an investment—or buying yourself a job?
Why replacement management cost belongs in your acquisition analysis.
Read the perspective ↗ORDENNE PERSPECTIVE
Gross rental yield versus net business yield: fix the comparison.
Use consistent capital, costs and time periods before choosing an investment.
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The acquisition should survive a bad year.
Stress-test revenue, fixed costs and your cash buffer before trusting the base case.
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Working capital: the acquisition cost hiding behind the price.
Separate the capital needed to buy a business from the cash needed to keep it running.
Read the perspective ↗ORDENNE PERSPECTIVE
Before believing a business return, ask for the evidence.
A practical standard for reading seller-reported cash flow and payback figures.
Read the perspective ↗THE ORDENNE JOURNAL
Explore 40 sector acquisition guides
From cafés and clinics to logistics and software: investigate the operating economics and evidence that matter for the business you want to buy.
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