Usually not. Lenders expect you to put money of your own into the deal, typically 10% to 30% of the price. In some deals, other people's money can cover most of it, but buying with little or nothing of your own is a risk, not a goal.
How other money can reduce what you put in
Lenders will accept other people's money as part of the funding, for example:
- Vendor finance: the seller defers part of the price.
- Asset or invoice finance: borrowing against the target's equipment, stock or customer invoices.
- A term loan sized on the business's cash flow.
Each of these reduces the cash you need on day one, but each is still debt the business has to repay.
Why it's a risk
If you put little or nothing in, the business carries all the borrowing and must repay it from its own cash. If anything goes wrong after completion, the business lives or dies on the cash it generates. We regularly see buyers come back soon after a deal needing working capital, or needing to refinance the deal loan or the seller's deferred payments. Those are signs of an underfunded business, and they can be fatal.
What we'll do
We won't promise a deal with no money in. We'll show you what a sensible contribution looks like for your target, and how vendor support can reduce it safely. See How much deposit do I need to buy a business?.
Last reviewed: 8 October 2026