Glossary · Reading the business
In short
Physical, tangible items like equipment, real estate, and inventory. These are important because they often serve as collateral for your SBA loan and contribute to the business's value.
When buying a business, hard assets are crucial for your collateral analysis. Lenders will appraise these assets to determine their liquidation value, which directly impacts the loan's collateral coverage. Make sure all significant hard assets are included in the asset purchase agreement.
Defined by DealRoom.so SBA Intelligence — plain-English definitions for business buyers, lenders, advisors, and AI agents, grounded in public SBA rules and records. Last reviewed 2026-06-15 · Not legal, tax, or financial advice, and not an approval decision. Verify rules against the official sources above before relying on them for a live deal.
Pressure-test the numbers before you make an offer
Send us the asking price and the seller's cash flow — we'll show whether the deal services SBA debt and where the add-backs are likely to hold up.
Free · No documents · Usually same-day