In one form or another: • The work. Can it be done properly without you? Is any of it written down? • The customers. Who do the big customers call? How much comes from the biggest few? • Pricing. Who prices the unusual jobs, and how? • The numbers. Who besides you can explain them? • Decisions. What waits for you? • Outside relationships. Who deals with the bank, suppliers and landlord? • Licences. Whose name are they in? Will they still be valid after the sale? • Equipment. What will need replacing soon? Are there maintenance records? • Key people. Who matters most, and what keeps them?

What do buyers check before they buy a business?

The short answer

Besides the accounts, the tax and the legal papers, buyers check one big thing: what leaves when you leave, and what it will cost them. They look at who does the work, who holds the customers, who sets prices, who knows the numbers, whose name is on the licences, and what shape the equipment and records are in.

Isn’t it mostly about the accounts?

The accounts matter, and accountants and lawyers check them closely. But the accounts show what the business earned with you running it. Buyers also need to know whether those earnings will continue without you. That’s often where the deal changes.

What do buyers ask?

In one form or another:

The work. Can it be done properly without you? Is any of it written down?
The customers. Who do the big customers call? How much comes from the biggest few?
Pricing. Who prices the unusual jobs, and how?
The numbers. Who besides you can explain them?
Decisions. What waits for you?
Outside relationships. Who deals with the bank, suppliers and landlord?
Licences. Whose name are they in? Will they still be valid after the sale?
Equipment. What will need replacing soon? Are there maintenance records?
Key people. Who matters most, and what keeps them?

How do buyers find the answers?

By asking for proof. Records, documents, examples, and conversations with your staff. A business that can’t produce what’s asked for within a week or so tells a buyer a lot.

What happens when they find a gap?

It usually becomes a lower price, part of the price paid later, money held back, or a demand that you stay longer. Sometimes the deal ends. There’s rarely time to fix it during the sale.

How can I get ready?

Look at your business the way a buyer will, before a buyer does. Find the weakest answers and start on the slowest ones. That’s what the Handover Score does from the owner’s side. If you’re the buyer, see the Buyer Handover Score.