# How She Bought A $3M Pet Food Business Making $500K/yr (For 10% Down)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/how-she-bought-a-3m-pet-food-business-making-500k-yr-for-10-down
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/how-she-bought-a-3m-pet-food-business-making-500k-yr-for-10-down.md
Podcast: [The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224)
Published: 2026-05-25T19:23:30+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/40a06c0c
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/40a06c0c/480db703.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/episodes/how-she-bought-a-3m-pet-food-business-making-500k-yr-for-10-down
Duration seconds: 2570

## Resource

In this episode, Chelsea breaks down how she bought a $1.7M raw pet food business after 12 years at Boeing and Amazon, the off-market deal that "broke up" and came back to life nearly a year later, and the performance-based seller's note that bridged a valuation gap when bird flu cratered 2025 sales. ◼️ The "Hail Mary" offer she sent the seller nine months after their first deal collapsed ◼️ The one moment that killed the first deal a few months in (and how the seller's son ended up on her team anyway) ◼️ The financing structure — 10% down, SBA loan through Climate First Bank, and a sales-tied performance note — that closed a $1.7M deal with no outside investors ◼️ Why she spent her first year hunting virtual businesses before realizing she needed a local, physical operation ◼️ How her corporate negotiation training saved the relationship with her biggest wholesale customer in month four Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ Follow Helen: Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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## Transcript

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