Both first-time buyers and seasoned buyers alike will face a new challenge after successfully buying a business. The buyers must step up to their ownership role to ensure the continuing success of their new business. This transitional phase can be tricky for the new business owner and the existing workers. After buying a business, the new goals are to fully understand the operations, understand their new role as its owner, and to identify and make any necessary adjustments moving forward. Here are some tips and best practices to help the ownership transition go smoothly after buying a business.
Listen and Learn
Maybe you’ve negotiated some arrangement to have the previous owner stay around during the transition period to show you the ropes. Even though they don’t have much of an ownership stake in their business anymore, most people don’t want to see their old businesses do poorly. In this case, having the seller train you for your new role as an owner is extremely valuable. They can offer much more insight into the business operations, the managerial role, and even the company culture. Of course, this helps reduce your learning curve for those first few months. If using the seller isn’t a resource, you can still learn a lot from what the staff has to say.
Ask Questions
As you learn about your new business, you’ll want to make a note of anything you don’t quite understand fully or any inefficiencies that stick out. Perhaps that’s the way things have always been done, but you’re the boss now, and you can take charge! When you identify an area for improvement, ask if anyone else feels the same way and if there are any workable solutions. You can even delegate the task of solving these problems to your management team if you don’t feel completely ready to make an informed decision.
Informing the Public
Telling the public includes letting clients, customers, vendors, and other stakeholders know about the new ownership and your transition phase. They should hear about this change from you rather than some third party, like your competitors. Informing the public yourself demonstrates transparency and helps reassure everyone that services will go on with as little interruption as possible. This will go a long way in retaining your customers’ trust. With the previous owner’s or an employee’s help, get familiar with some client’s business history and need-to-know facts to continue servicing them to their expectation and satisfaction.
Buying With Atlantic Business Brokerage, Inc.
At Atlantic Business Brokerage, our mission is quite simple; we help sellers sell businesses, and buyers buy businesses! Over the past 30 years, ABBI has facilitated the sale of countless commercial properties, businesses, and franchised locations. With our unparalleled knowledge of the business purchase and sale industry and our network of contacts, we offer services to both buyers and sellers that no other brokerage firm can match.
Contact us to discuss your business buying and selling goals today at 410-561-9800, or Toll-Free at 800-279-7569. Email us at [email protected], and follow us online on Facebook and LinkedIn.