Yes, inventory acquired for the business is ordinarily part of the qualifying investment, as is goodwill paid for as part of an ongoing enterprise. What matters is that the funds are irrevocably committed, at risk in a real operating enterprise, and substantial in proportion to the cost of buying a business of that kind.
The test is commitment and proportion, not what the money bought
Nothing in the treaty investor framework favours bricks over stock. A yard's value sits in its inventory, its supply relationships and its customer base, and paying for those is investing in the enterprise. Two cautions follow.
Inventory must be bought for the business rather than parked as a personal asset, and the allocation in the purchase agreement should reflect a real valuation rather than a tax-driven number nobody can defend. Substantiality is assessed proportionally: the question is whether Ismail's committed capital is a high enough share of what it costs to acquire this business, and where he is buying the whole yard, that share approaches everything. Because no universal minimum applies, the case is made by showing the total cost, the amount committed and the relationship between them.
The ten-job rule belongs to EB-5 and has no application here.