Okay, Okay. Gather around and listen up

I now get SO MANY emails asking about the 'get rich quick gurus' who offer to teach you how to buy a business with 'no money' that I've had to dedicate a blog page to it.

Here are the common claims:

Buy a business with $0 down.
Buy a business even if you're broke.
Buy a business with poor credit.
Buy a business in the next 90 days.
Buy a business for 1 pound, 1 dollar, 1 shekel, 1 rand, 1 golden nugget, 1 empty Coke can...

No Money down deals are REAL and I have worked on them for people. BUT.. They get done by people with money, assets and often with other businesses already under their control.

At a bare minimum- they're done by people with years of relevant management experience in their target industry.

They very rarely get done by a broke person... and when they do, there are often BIG PROBLEMS with the businesses that get bought.

Who the hell am I to talk about this? My bio is here.

That said, here are the videos and blog posts I've made over the last few years which address this topic. Please study it fully before you spend thousands of dollars trying to learn someone's magic formula. Magic isn't real.

Buying a business is a doable thing. You're going to need cash for all kinds of things beyond just the down-payment. Either save it up, or find a way to get some partners with money.

Please don't invest thousands of dollars in someone's program until you read/watch all this stuff.

I'm like the harbinger character in the cheesy horror flick that warns the teenagers not to go visit the creepy mansion after dark. We all know what happens to them... don't let that happen to your wallet.

Cheers
David C Barnett

The first video — August 28, 2016

Then a follow-up question — October 23, 2016

After being called an idiot by one viewer… Leveraged Buy Outs — May 28, 2017

Frustration beset me — March 2018

…while on vacation in Jamaica and I recorded this tape of how I feel about No Money Down Desperat-os

On using assets of a business to raise the money

I keep hearing about how you're supposed to be able to use the assets of a business to raise the money to buy it. There are apparently some magical loan-makers called Asset-Based Lenders who will give you all the money you need to buy a business. In this video, I demonstrate why this doesn't work. It has to do with the definition of value. The further you get from a bank, the less the equipment is worth as collateral.

Real NO MONEY DOWN deal — May 8, 2019

And just so you know that you can actually pull this off, I show you an example of a REAL NO MONEY DOWN deal so you can see what is really required to make it work... A relationship you can leverage.

June 2020 — Interview with Carlos

I interview Carlos who was a student of both Carl Allen and Moran Pober. We discuss his experience with these gurus programs and their selling tactics...

April 2021 — Advice to Phil

Phil wants to know if he should find a job or spend all his money on a program which will help him buy a bunch of businesses using none of his own money and roll them up into a big deal that he can sell for big profits, blah, blah, blah. Here's my advice to Phil....

October 2021 — Debt service no more than 50%?

Wayne suggests that using a combination of Asset-Based Lenders, Seller Financing and 'other traditional lending' may be a way to do a no money down deal safely if the debt service is no more than 50% of the cash flow. Ok, I agree! But, how do we work out the specifics of the deal and what do the seller and the banker feel about the resulting solutions?

August 2022 — Codie Sanchez

I get flooded with comments about a new lady helping people buy boring businesses with NO MONEY! Does Codie Sanchez have this stuff figured out? Let's take a look...

August 2023 — Jonathan Jay vs Clinton Lee

One of the big online gurus... Jonathan Jay sues UK M&A specialist Clinton Lee about comments he made online. Clinton fought the guru and he withdrew the court case. I interview Lee about what he uncovered while gathering evidence for his defence...

May 2025 — What if you have no money, assets or skills?

August 2025 — Why do people keep falling for this trap?

This video explores why these ideas seem so powerful and alluring to many.

Want More???

Some of my most convincing arguments are in written form. Here are some blog posts that were originally emails which I sent out to my email subscribers. Are you on the list? It's at https://www.DavidCBarnettList.com I send out cool stuff all the time.

Industry Pro gets sucked into hype Vortex!!- Feb 18, 2019
In this post, I tell the story of an experience M&A professional who drank the koolaid and very quickly realized he'd been had.
There are risks in talking to a buyer who may not be real!- March 13, 2019
Here's a piece that explains what sellers are worried about. Do you think someone wants to sell a business (and likely finance part of the transaction) to someone who has nothing to put in?
Easy way to buy Multiple Businesses Quickly and Create Massive Personal Wealth- March 30, 2019
Here I respond to some of the nonsense ideas that get floated about trying to get people to invest in these expensive buy a business programs.
Can you buy a business with no money?- April 22, 2019
I talk about recent inquiries and some of the answers to those questions.
Getting attorneys and CPAs to work for free- July 15, 2019
Those other guys will tell you that you can convince professionals to work on contingency. Can you really?
What are your chances of getting shot down when you fly your P51 into German flak??- September 16, 2019
Why are the examples held up by the gurus so alluring? Why can't I do what they did? In this post, I teach you about the psychology of Survivorship Bias.
Would it help if I yelled and called you names?- September 16, 2019
Maybe if I challenge you to do something and yelled and called you names until I was red in the face and used coarse, crude and cussin' language you'll feel compelled to do it. I mean, it works on fifth graders, doesn't it?
What about that new Guru I just saw advertising online?- November 10, 2020
Sometimes people write to ask or tell me about some NEW guy they saw advertising online to see if that person has the magic secret. Well, T. will tell you what happened with his experience learning from 'the new guy.'
***For a rundown on the most famous 'Zero Down Gurus' check out Clinton Lee's article on the subject here: http://ukbusinessbrokers.com/business-acquisition-courses/
***If you're a business owner who is being harrassed by buyers who have taken these courses, check out his other page here: https://ukbusinessbrokers.com/how-to-deal-with-1-charlies-from-the-dealacademy/
Roll Up Entrepreneur seeking members for Board of Advisors. Feb 22, 2022
What's with all the Roll Up Entrepreneurs who need helpers along the way? See what I discovered when I started questioning people who are using this kind of Linkedin headline. The trail of devastation left by 'no-money' gurus is quite sad.
Broker's demand proof of funds- Zero Down Guru Strategy Explained
I got a question from Rob, what about a broker asking for proof of funds before he sets up a meeting with the seller?

Business Buyer Advantage

If you REALLY want to learn how REAL businesses are bought everyday by regular folks, you can sign up for my online course called Business Buyer Advantage. It's not thousands of dollars. It's not even $1,997.

It's less than a third of that.

It's a real learning program.

It is never a time-limited offer, you can come back and buy it whenever you need it.

There is never a limited quantity of spots in the course because it's an online digital product.

I sell information and how-to stuff. I do not sell HOPE. Hope that you'll luck out and get rich quick by fooling some old-timer into a bad deal.

The program is found over at https://www.BusinessBuyerAdvantage.com

Cheers and good luck out there.

David C Barnett

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Buy a Business with No Money