FM · Buyer Cohort
Apply Today
Application-only · 20 seats · Two-week live sprint

Know exactly what your target business is worth — and walk away holding the LOI to buy it.

You bring your target deals. We run every one of them through the Capital Access Model, put them on the screen, and tear them apart before you commit. You leave with bankable valuations, a pressure-tested deal, and a ready-to-send LOI.

$6,400 of valuation and deal work. $500 if you’re selected. $5 to apply.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify

Ten minutes from now you can have it moving. Apply and submit your first target in the same sitting — your CAM valuation comes back within 24 hours, not the weeks an appraiser or a broker opinion takes.

Includes the FM Buyer Playbook and one CAM valuation · Seats capped at 20 · Next cohort starts {{custom_values.cohort_start_date}}

What your $5 buys today
The FM Buyer Playbook$100
One CAM valuation on your first target$400
Delivered on application$500

Whether or not you are selected. Ten minutes to apply, first target submitted in the same sitting, written valuation back within 24 hours.

24 hoursWritten CAM valuation back
48 hoursCohort decision, by email
20 seatsApplications close when the room fills

Apply if this is you

  • You are actively working toward buying an operating business, not deciding whether to.
  • You can fund diligence and a down payment, or you have a credible path to partner capital.
  • You have targets you want valued — or you are ready to build the pipeline in week one.
  • You are willing to have your deal corrected in front of a small group.

Don’t apply if

  • You want us to find or hand you a deal. We don’t, and our answer is one word: no.
  • You have no capital and no credible path to it in the next twelve months.
  • You are exploring entrepreneurship generally, or collecting education for later.
  • You need a recording to watch on your own time. This runs live on your deals.
The real reason deals die

Most deals don’t die in diligence. They die at the bank.

“A buyer finds a business, likes the owner, agrees on a number over coffee, signs a letter of intent — and then takes it to a lender who says no. Not because the business is bad. Because the price was built on what the seller hoped, not on what a lender will finance.”

— FM Buyer Playbook, opening page

That is an expensive way to find out what a bank tests. Late-stage deaths cost you the legal bill, the diligence spend, the exclusivity window, and the relationship with a seller you will now never buy from.

You have run numbers your whole career. You have never once run the numbers a lender runs. That is not a character flaw. It is an information asymmetry — and it is the most expensive one in this business.


You already know acquisition is the fastest path. You just don’t have the machine.

Most first-time buyers stall in the same four places. Not one of them is about wanting it badly enough.

Blocker 01

No deal flow

Listing sites, and nothing proprietary. So you look at what everyone else has already passed on.

Blocker 02

No way to read a seller’s numbers

Owner-operated businesses are run for tax efficiency, not for sale. The P&L in front of you is not the business.

Blocker 03

No structure that works without all-cash

Seller notes, third-party debt, partner capital, rollover. Every one of them changes the price you can pay.

Blocker 04

No capital relationships

You are pitching your first lender at the exact moment you can least afford a no.

The sprint is built to remove those four blockers in order. Eight working days. On your deals, not case studies.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify
The mechanism

Price it against debt. Not against a multiple.

“3x SDE” is shorthand, and shorthand is where buyers overpay. The Capital Access Model is FM’s valuation method: a range anchored to what a bank will actually finance, rather than what a seller hopes or what a multiple implies.

All valuations are provided for informational purposes only. CAM is not an appraisal, a fairness opinion, or a financing commitment.

A lender tests four things. Most buyers have run none of them.

01

Cash flow coverage

Adjusted earnings over annual debt service. Lenders want visible headroom.

02

Quality of earnings

Documented in tax returns and financials — or asserted in a spreadsheet. Those are not the same thing.

03

Transferability

What happens to revenue when the owner stops answering the phone.

04

Collateral and equity

Hard assets, and how much of your own money is in the deal.

The specific ratio varies by lender, industry and structure, and is worth asking about early. Anyone who quotes you one universal number has not spoken to enough lenders.

Five lines price a deal. Everything else is noise.

  1. Normalised owner earnings, three years, with the add-back schedule attached.
  2. A market-rate manager’s salary, if you will not run it yourself.
  3. Maintenance capital expenditure.
  4. Working capital through the cycle.
  5. Annual debt service at realistic terms.

What remains is cash after close. If it is thin at the asking price, you have not found a bad business — you have found your negotiating position.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify

Written valuation back within 24 hours. Financials do not need to be perfect. Send what you have.

The offer, itemised

Bring up to 6 deals. We value every one of them — and tell you which ones to walk away from.

Here is exactly what a selected member receives, line by line, with what each piece costs when it is engaged on its own.

CAM valuations on up to 6 of your targetsThe Capital Access Model, run on your real deals. $400 per valuation, engaged individually. $2,400
8 hours live with Fadi Malouf & AssociatesTwo weeks of working sessions with an M&A advisor, an active PE sponsor, and the CAM team in the room — including your deal on the screen, torn apart before you commit: add-backs, red flags, and what kills deals at the bank. $2,000
Your buy-box and acquisition thesis, built with youThe one-page criteria capital partners actually respond to. Its job is to let you say no in ninety seconds. $750
The deal-flow engine: sourcing lists, outreach scripts, seller approachLive sourcing starting day 3, not homework for later. $750
The LOI framework and template vaultStructure, terms and language for a ready-to-send LOI on your best target. $500
Total value of what is delivered $6,400

Values reflect comparable market rates for these services engaged individually. All valuations are provided for informational purposes only. Have counsel review any LOI or contract language before you send it.

And then there is the room itself. An active PE sponsor, family office and HNW participants, and the private member channel where deals get picked apart between sessions. We don’t put a price on that.

The arithmetic

$6,400 $500

$5 to apply today. A $495 balance if you are selected. Nothing else to participate.

$5

To apply

Ten minutes, start to finish — application and your first deal submitted in one sitting. Buys the CAM valuation on your first target ($400) and the FM Buyer Playbook ($100). $500 of work, delivered whether or not you are selected.

$500

If you are selected

Your $5 comes off the price — a $495 balance, and nothing else to participate. No upsell required to get the full two weeks.


Why $500 and not $6,400?

Because the cohort is not the business — it is how we meet serious buyers. We would rather sit in a room with twenty people who own real targets than sell a course to two thousand who don’t.

That is also why it is application-only and capped at 20 seats: we price it low and select hard, instead of pricing it high and taking everyone.

Some members will want hands-on advisory help on a deal afterwards. That is the whole model, out loud — optional, never pushed. You now know more about how we make money than most programs will ever tell you.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify
The two weeks

Eight working days. Your deals on the table.

Every block ends in something you hold, not something you watched.

Days 1–2

Your buy-box and thesis

The one-page criteria capital partners respond to. A buy-box is a filter, not a wish list. If yours doesn’t let you say no in ninety seconds, it is too vague.

Days 3–4

Deal flow, live

Sourcing and outreach start immediately. Real targets in motion by the end of the first week — including if you walked in with none.

Days 5–6

Reading the numbers

Add-backs, red flags, what kills deals. One test on every add-back: could a third party verify it, and will it truly not recur?

Days 7–8

CAM valuations on YOUR deals

Know what the bank will fund before you offer. Then the LOI framework, and the crescendo: a ready-to-send letter of intent on your best target.

Format: 8 hours live over two weeks, weekdays 11:00 AM Central, plus recordings and a private member channel between sessions.

Before you decide anything

The $5 is not a toll. It is a purchase.

Most applications take your time and hand you a “thanks, we’ll be in touch.” This one delivers before it decides.

  • The FM Buyer Playbook — $100. The full method, in writing. Run it on a real target while you read it.
  • One CAM valuation on your first target — $400. Written, back within 24 hours.
  • $500 of work, yours either way. Selected or not selected. We do not claw it back.

You see what the model does with a deal of your own before you ever pay for a seat. If we don’t select you, you still walk away knowing what a lender would do to your number.

Financials do not need to be perfect. Send what you have. If all you have is a listing sheet and a revenue figure, send that.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify
The selection

Who is in this room

Four kinds of buyer, one shared position: already decided on acquisition, stuck on execution.

01

Operators & executives

Leaving a corporate seat and want to own the cash flow instead of the title.

02

Founders post-exit

Liquidity in hand, want to redeploy into acquisitions rather than start over.

03

Investors going direct

Tired of passive paper. Want control positions in real businesses.

04

Existing owners

Want to grow through acquisition instead of grinding out organic growth. Best debt profile in the room.


And who should not apply

We would rather say this here than after you have paid.

  • You want us to find a deal for you. We don’t. You build your own pipeline with our engine and templates, and we pressure-test what you bring. That is what makes it stick.
  • You have no capital and no credible path to it. You need to be able to fund diligence and a down payment, or to have a credible path to partner capital. If you have neither, this is not the right time — and we will say so.
  • You want something to watch later. This is live, on your deals, weekdays at 11:00 AM Central. Recordings exist. They are not the point.
  • You are not willing to be corrected in front of a small group. Your deal goes on the screen and gets taken apart. That is the value. It is also uncomfortable.

20 seats, selected from applications. If that reads as a filter, it is one.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify
Who’s in the room

Fadi Malouf — and the room around him

Serial entrepreneur, strategic buyer and capital partner working in the lower-middle market through FM Capital and FM Advisory. Fadi has built and exited companies, and now spends his weeks doing exactly what the cohort teaches: sourcing owner-operated businesses, structuring deals with seller and third-party capital, and working alongside a network of independent advisors and capital sources.

Alongside him: a lead M&A advisor with decades of transactions and a national investor network, an active private equity sponsor who evaluates member deals live, the team behind the CAM valuation platform, and family office and HNW participants who pick deals apart in real time.

The cohort is the process, not the theory. The room is the product.

Questions

The ten things people ask before they apply

Why does it cost $5 to apply?

Because we only want verified buyers in the room. The fee tells us there is a real person on the other side of the application — someone working on a deal, not someone collecting free downloads. A free application costs nothing to submit, which is exactly what a free application is worth to us when we sit down to review twenty of them. And because we are asking you to pay to apply, you get back more than you put in: the Playbook and a CAM valuation on your first target, whether or not you are selected.

Do I need capital to join?

You need to be able to fund diligence and a down payment, or to have a credible path to partner capital. If you have neither, this is not the right time — and we will say so.

Will you find a deal for me?

No. You build your own pipeline with our engine and templates, and we pressure-test what you bring. That is what makes it stick.

Can FM invest in or fund my deal?

Sometimes. If a deal fits the criteria of FM’s capital relationships, we will make introductions. That is never promised as part of the program.

What if I already own a business?

Even better. Come with an add-on strategy and we will work your roll-up thesis.

What if I don’t have six targets yet?

Days 3 and 4 are live sourcing — the engine, the lists, the outreach scripts, the seller approach. Members who arrive with nothing under consideration start building the pipeline in the first week, and bring what they find into the valuation days. If you already hold targets, you get straight to valuing them.

What do I get for the $5 application?

The FM Buyer Playbook ($100) and one CAM valuation on your first target ($400) — $500 of work, included with your application — so you see what the model does with a real deal before you ever pay for a seat. Valuations are for informational purposes only.

How fast does this actually move?

The application and your first deal submission take about ten minutes together, and your written CAM valuation comes back within 24 hours — while most buyers wait weeks on an appraiser or a broker’s opinion. Your cohort decision follows within 48 hours.

What happens after I apply?

We review within 48 hours. Accepted applicants receive their seat confirmation and payment link. Higher-tier applicants may be invited to a brief call.

What happens after the two weeks?

Most members continue: another cohort with new targets, or hands-on advisory support on the deal they’ve chosen. Both are optional, never pushed.

The dates that actually bind

Applications close when the room fills.

  • The next cohort starts {{custom_values.cohort_start_date}}. Once it starts, the next intake is the following cohort.
  • Seats are capped at 20. Applications close when the room fills, whichever comes first.
  • Applications are reviewed within 48 hours. The decision comes by email either way.
  • An accepted seat is held for 72 hours. After that it passes to the next applicant on the list.

There is no countdown clock on this page. The lines above are the whole deadline, and they are real. The room has a start date, the seats are finite, and an accepted seat that sits unclaimed goes to someone else.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify

Ten minutes. $5. Reviewed within 48 hours.

Last thing

Bring your deals. Leave with the LOI.


$6,400 of valuation and deal work. $500 if you’re selected. Ten minutes and $5 to apply — submit your first target in the same sitting, and the Playbook plus your CAM valuation are yours straight away.

Apply Today $5 Application Fee to See if You Qualify

P.S. — The $5 is not a deposit and it is not a toll. It buys the Playbook and a written CAM valuation on your first target, and both are delivered whether or not you get a seat. The worst outcome available to you here is finding out, within 24 hours, what a lender would actually do to the number you were about to offer.

P.P.S. — If you are waiting until you have found the perfect target before you apply: the pipeline is what days 3 and 4 build. Waiting for deal flow to appear on its own is the single most common way a nine-month search turns into a three-year one.

Application · Step 1 of 2

What you are applying for

A seat in the FM Buyer Cohort — a two-week live sprint, application-only, capped at 20. You bring your target deals. We run them through the Capital Access Model, take them apart on screen, and you leave with bankable valuations and a ready-to-send LOI.


What your $5 buys, today
The FM Buyer Playbook$100
One CAM valuation on your first target$400
Delivered on application$500

Whether or not you are selected. We do not claw it back. That is the whole point of charging for the application — we only want verified buyers in the room, and you should get more back than you put in.

$6,400 $500

$5 now. A $495 balance only if you are selected. Nothing else to participate.

  • Ten minutes to apply — application and first target in one sitting
  • Written CAM valuation back within 24 hours
  • Cohort decision within 48 hours, by email either way
  • Financials do not need to be perfect. Send what you have

All valuations are provided for informational purposes only. CAM is not an appraisal, a fairness opinion, or a financing commitment. FM Enterprise, LLC provides education and advisory services only.

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© 2026 FM Enterprise, LLC. Atlanta, GA. All rights reserved.

FM Enterprise, LLC and its affiliates provide education and advisory services only. Nothing on this page is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security, an offer of financing, investment advice, legal advice, or tax advice. FM is not a licensed broker or broker-dealer. Business acquisition involves risk, including loss of capital. Results are not typical or guaranteed and depend on your own effort, capital, and market conditions. All valuations are provided for informational purposes only.

Questions: [email protected]