Buying a business
Buy the business you think you’re buying
A food truck, a salon, a machine shop, a three-location franchise. The listing tells you what the seller wants you to hear. The paperwork should tell you the rest.
I represent buyers, and sometimes sellers, in small-business purchases: usually a few hundred thousand dollars, a bank loan and a seller who wants to be done by spring. My job is to find out what’s really for sale and get it into an agreement both of you can live with.
From letter of intent to keys in hand
Most purchases I handle take six to twelve weeks. Here’s what happens in that time.
- 01
Step 1: Read the letter of intent
Before you sign anything that sounds non-binding, we check which parts actually bind you, like exclusivity and deposits.
- 02
Step 2: Look under the hood
Liens, leases, licenses, payroll taxes, customer contracts. I review what the seller hands over and ask for what they didn’t.
- 03
Step 3: Write the purchase agreement
Price, what’s included, what the seller promises is true, and what happens if it isn’t. Asset sale or stock sale, explained in plain terms.
- 04
Step 4: Line up the side deals
A new lease or an assignment, a non-compete, a training period with the seller, the bank’s loan documents.
- 05
Step 5: Close
We sign, money moves, and you get the keys, the passwords and the phone number. I stay on call for the first few weeks.
Questions buyers ask
Should I buy the assets or the company?
Most small purchases are asset sales, which leave the seller’s old debts with the seller. Sometimes a stock sale is the only way to keep a license or a contract. We’ll weigh it for your deal.
The seller wants to skip lawyers to save money. Is that fine?
It’s your call, but a purchase is the one time the seller knows far more than you do. A review costs a small slice of the price, and it’s fixed before we start.
Can you work with my accountant and lender?
Yes, and I’d rather. The accountant reads the numbers, the bank sets loan conditions, and I make sure the agreement matches both.
Found a business you want?
Send me the listing or the letter of intent. On the first call, I’ll point out what to ask the seller next.