Beginner guides
Clear explanations of valuation, revenue, profit, churn, owner involvement, and other concepts buyers need to understand.
About Imara Journal
Practical lessons for buying small digital businesses.
I'm Donovan, the person behind Imara Journal. I created this site to become the kind of practical resource I wish I had when I first started looking at websites and online businesses to buy.
Why I started this journal
When I first started evaluating websites and small digital businesses, I quickly realized that there was a lot more to learn than how to calculate a revenue multiple.
A listing might show revenue, profit, customers, and an asking price, but those numbers rarely tell the full story. You still have to understand where the revenue comes from, how involved the owner is, whether customers are likely to stay, what could break after the sale, and whether the asking price actually makes sense.
There is useful information across videos, forums, marketplace listings, and seller conversations, but much of it is scattered. I wanted one place that explained the process clearly while also showing what it looks like to evaluate real opportunities.
Imara Journal is my attempt to create that place and share the lessons I learn along the way.
Learning through real deals
There is a lot to learn when buying an online business. Every listing, seller conversation, financial statement, and due diligence request can reveal something new.
This journal turns those experiences into practical lessons about small SaaS products, plugins, websites, directories, and other digital businesses.
That includes seller questions worth asking, red flags that are easy to miss, assumptions that do not hold up, negotiation lessons, and the reasons a buyer might continue investigating or decide to walk away.
The goal is to help other buyers understand the process, make better-informed decisions, and recognize risks before committing their time and money.
What you will find here
Deal breakdowns
Practical analysis of real opportunities, including what looks promising, what creates concern, and what buyers should ask the seller.
Due diligence
Lessons about verifying revenue, reviewing customer data, understanding the product, and identifying risks before buying.
The acquisition journey
An honest look at seller conversations, negotiations, changing opinions, offers, mistakes, and decisions to buy or walk away.
Sharing the full process
Imara Journal is not just a collection of polished success stories. Some businesses look great at first and fall apart after a few basic questions. Others seem ordinary but become more interesting as more information is uncovered.
I want to share the uncertainty, changing opinions, negotiations that go nowhere, and lessons that often come from the businesses I never end up buying.
Even when an acquisition does not happen, there is usually something valuable to learn from the process.
Start learning
Explore practical lessons from real businesses, seller conversations, due diligence reviews, valuations, and acquisition decisions.
Read the Journal