“If you are planning on buying a business, this will save you a lot of anxiety and wasted emotion”
Know that deals die multiple times between negotiating the LOI and closing the deal.
There is a lack of trust on both sides of the table. There are lawyers and accountants involved. There are large financial sums, life's work, and long term relationships at play.
I promise you, in most cases, you will find ypurself more than once sure the deal is dead. Breath, and do not let it bother you. The entire deal process is about finding a middle ground that works for you and the seller.
This means giving in on certain points and holding firm on others. Some tips that can help:
Negotiate as much as possible into the LOI. You are still early in the game, if there is a deal breaker to negotiate do it now. Before you have invested more time and money into the deal.
Once the LOI is signed, when monetary issues come up, make a list of them and negotiate them all at once at the end. Do not negotiate piecemeal. It is easier to find a fair middle ground with all issues on the table.
Remember this is your deal. Trust your attorneys but you are the final decision maker. You decide how much risk you want to take and whether to proceed.
Have fun with it. If the deal does not work, no worries. Maybe you just got saved from some future blow up. Move on to the next one.