When You’re Ready to Buy

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

🌟 Editor's Note:

Welcome to Behind the Books! A 3-minute read with stories, tools, and lessons from real companies—what worked, what didn’t, and what founders can learn.

Last week, we looked at selling a business.

This week, it’s the other side of the table: what to look for when you’re the buyer.

💡 The Story:

When you’re buying a business, excitement moves fast but risk hides in the details.

On paper, everything looks good:

• steady revenue,   

• loyal customers,   

• strong growth.

But under the surface?

• Unrecorded costs,  

 • outdated systems, or  

 • one big client holding the whole thing together.

That’s where good deals turn into costly lessons.

Buying a business isn’t about finding perfection.

It’s about finding what’s real and what can still grow.

The Lesson:

1. Due diligence makes or breaks value.

It’s about discovering what’s missing. Dig into vendor contracts, margins, customer concentration, and deferred liabilities.

2. Culture fit isn’t soft.

Two teams that can’t work together will burn through profit fast. Assess the people, not just the numbers.

3. Seller financing can be a good sign.

When a seller is willing to finance part of the deal, it often means they believe in the business post-sale and keeps both sides aligned.

4. Plan integration before you close.

Payroll, accounting, communication know how things will run from day one. The first 100 days decide whether you’re scaling or scrambling.

From Behind the Books:

A good acquisition isn’t just about buying a business that works. It’s about building one that still works after you own it.

Your weekly prompt:

If you bought your own business tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d fix?

See you next Friday,

– Yan

P.S. Numbers tell part of the story. The people, processes, and pressure tell the rest and that’s where the real value lives.