Foundation Due Diligence
Built for first time acquirers buying small eCommerce brands, micro SaaS tools, and media businesses including blogs, websites, newsletters, YouTube channels and social media accounts. Every critical risk area covered in 7 business days.
- ✓ 12 month P&L reconstruction
- ✓ Traffic and SEO audit
- ✓ Revenue source verification
- ✓ Risk scorecard and red flags
- ✓ Valuation opinion (CVA informed)
- ✓ Seller interview question bank
- ✓ 30 min M&A strategy call with Jaryd
Every Critical Area. No Exceptions.
The Foundation package covers everything that matters most in sub $500k deals. These are the areas where fraud, misrepresentation, and hidden risk most commonly hide.
Financial Verification
We rebuild 12 months of P&L from source data including Stripe, PayPal, bank statements, and platform dashboards. We do not read spreadsheets. We verify the numbers behind them and identify every discrepancy.
Traffic and SEO Audit
Full analysis of Google Analytics, Search Console, and third party tools. Traffic trends, organic and paid split, Google penalty history, Core Update exposure, and link profile quality.
Revenue Source Verification
We verify every revenue stream claimed by the seller. Affiliate commissions, ad network payments, subscriptions, product sales. Screenshots and dashboards get cross referenced against payment processor data.
Earnings Quality Assessment
Not all revenue is equal. We assess the sustainability of earnings, identifying one off payments, promotional spikes, revenue at risk, and anything that makes the income less reliable than presented.
Risk Scorecard
Every risk identified is rated by severity and likelihood. You receive a clear scorecard with red, amber, and green flags plus specific guidance on which risks are dealbreakers versus manageable.
Platform and Monetisation Risk
What happens if Amazon changes its commission rates? If Google penalises the site? We map every dependency and assess the real risk of platform or policy changes impacting the business.
Seller Interview Question Bank
A curated list of targeted questions based on our findings. The ones sellers least expect and most struggle to answer honestly. Use these in your final seller call before signing anything.
Valuation Opinion
A CVA informed valuation based on verified earnings, comparable sales data, and risk adjusted multiples. Not the broker asking price. What the business is actually worth before you negotiate.
30 Min M&A Strategy Session with Jaryd EXCLUSIVE
Nobody else in this market offers this. Jaryd walks through every major finding live, answers your questions, and gives you a direct buy, negotiate, or walk recommendation. This alone is worth the investment.
Real Findings from Real Deals
Representative examples of risks and opportunities we have uncovered in Foundation level engagements. The kind of things sellers do not mention in their listing.
Seller included refunds and platform fees as gross revenue. Actual net was 8k per year, not 9k. At a 35x multiple that was a 85k overpay. Deal renegotiated.
Traffic had dropped 40% eight months prior after a Helpful Content Update. Seller's figures were cherry picked from the pre penalty period. Client walked from the deal.
92% of revenue came from one affiliate partner with a history of rate changes. Risk acknowledged and negotiated into a 15% price reduction plus revenue protection clause.
Seller annualised figures from their Q4 peak, the three highest months of the year. Actual annualised earnings were 28% lower. Price renegotiated accordingly.
Seller had not monetised their email list at all. Conservative estimates put monetisation value at k to k per month of additional revenue immediately post acquisition.
Three affiliate relationships were running below market rate. One partner paying 8% versus the standard 20% for that vertical. Renegotiation opportunity identified before close.
Request Your Foundation DD Quote
Fill in your deal details and we will come back to you within 24 business hours with a confirmed quote and timeline.
🔒 All submissions are treated as confidential and covered by NDA. We respond within 24 business hours.