Suggestions
Joseph McAleer
I help entrepreneurs achieve SBA loans to purchase businesses free of charge!
Joseph P. McAleer is the Senior Director of Business Financing at MultiFunding LLC, with over 15 years of experience in the finance industry.1 He specializes in SBA loan facilitation and has a strong background in helping entrepreneurs utilize SBA loans to purchase businesses.1 McAleer joined MultiFunding 11 years ago and has since become an integral part of the team, known for his hands-on approach and thorough analysis of loan opportunities.23
McAleer's expertise includes:
- Financial analysis and strategy implementation
- SBA loan facilitation
- Business acquisitions
- Advising clients on debt leverage and financial standing
Prior to joining MultiFunding, he worked at Advanta Bank Corp in finance and accounting departments, and later at Towers Watson in Philadelphia, providing financial analysis and cost savings analysis to key clients.1 McAleer earned his bachelor's degree in economics with a minor in business management from Rutgers University.1
In his role at MultiFunding, McAleer focuses on thoroughly evaluating and presenting loan requests in the best possible light, guiding clients through potential hurdles, and positioning them with the best resources for success.23 He is known for his commitment to being an advisor first and a broker second, prioritizing the needs and understanding of his clients.1
Highlights
Partial Buyouts are becoming my new best friend...
When I work with buyers there is a recurring theme that is more prominent these days... People want to buy businesses in sectors or industries that make the most money (DUH!) and are offered at the lowest multiples. I'm talking about specialty services like HVAC, landscaping, electrical, plumbing and so on.
That, or people want to buy into a business they could always see themselves owning and excelling with and it will be a complete flip from what they've done professionally.
I feel like I'm the bearer of bad news when I get to the point of the conversation where I am saying to them that the SBA requires "industry relatable experience" when a bank is to consider making a loan. It's like I've stuck a pin in their excitement balloon. But the conversation continues and I help buyers understand that "relatable experience" is a bit of a gray area depending on the bank you are working with. Some banks want to be able to draw a straight line from your work experience to the business you are buying. Others can get more comfortable with experience found on your resume that speaks to being a successful owner-operator of the target business and industry.
What you need to understand is the bank is thinking about protecting their government guarantee. Saying you'll "figure it out" or a seller will consult for a year isn't enough. If you default on that loan and the SBA audits the bank and determines that you weren't a good fit, they could then determine the bank is not receiving that guarantee check.
This is abundantly true when a business (like the ones above) requires a license to operate. If you can't obtain it prior to close, your bank is unlikely to be comfortable in helping you buy that business.
Cue partial buyouts!! Approach a business acquisition thinking about the above and leveraging a seller's ongoing involvement through retained ownership. It will solve A LOT of issues and help get banks more comfortable in more ways than you can imagine! Owners that retain less than 20% do not need to personally guarantee your SBA loan, either. JUST NOTE that partial buyouts MUST be performed as a stock or membership purchase. Make sure everyone is on the same page when you speak with the seller's broker or the seller. I'm seeing more owners excited about sticking around long term and being open to the retained ownership. This is a GREAT fix by the SBA so USE IT!!!
Navigating the Marketplace 101
I was thinking about a common convo I have recently..
When you're a borrowing buyer and you find a deal in the marketplace or through a brokerage, what information are you receiving? Chances are you're getting a CIM or Executive Summary, maybe some P&L's to go along with it and MAYBE you're getting the tax returns. More often than not, you're told that you will receive tax data in due diligence and for now you must trust the numbers in front of you and make an offer. Doesn't that feel a bit scary to you? Most (not all) businesses are being offered at seemingly fair multiples against SDE, boasting excessive cash flow and would make any buyer feel like they're about to make the best investment of their life. But I liken this to an iceberg... You have little to almost no ability to arrive at what is fair and what is not to make an educated offer based on this limited information. What's in front of you is what you are allowed to see and below that is a world of information that you must obtain and work through to truly understand if this business is making anywhere near the money it proclaims and whether it is truly the right fit for you.
As a borrowing buyer, you should push to get down to brass (literal) tax. Without tax returns, NO ONE can assess the true financeability of a business. Clients ask me for my opinion of whether I can "get them a loan" and if they arrive without taxes I can certainly peruse what is there but can never give any sort of concrete assessment (and won't). If you take the materials you've been limited to, absent of taxes, to a bank and they are bold enough to tell you they can lend or propose based off of that info, that's a very dangerous game and I (and all the bankers I know) won't play it.
If a business is being advertised as "SBA prequalified" that is a great sign. It means that (hopefully) a banker or someone like me has done financial analysis, has access and visibility to the tax data and has determined it is supportive of a loan of $X or $Y. If it's not prequalified, ask if it has been or why it hasn't been or if you can work with your bank or advisor to get it prequalified for funding. If you're met with stories and endless reluctance to share such data, a red flag should start waving in your head.
Lastly, if a business is prequalified by a certain bank, it doesn't mean you must use that bank or broker (and this is me conceptually taking business away from myself). It doesn't mean that deal is "further down the road." I can prequalify a business within 30 minutes of receiving all of the proper data I need to perform financial analysis. That bank(er) or broker is missing the other key piece of the puzzle and that is YOU! Without consideration of YOUR qualifications, that prequal can sometimes be absolutely meaningless. If I've worked with you, I understand your qualifications and which bank is going to be best for the opportunity as a whole..
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.