The wire lands. Then the part nobody prepares you for.
Final documents get signed, funds move, and the company changes hands. What happens in the weeks after that decides how your people, your customers and your name come through it.
Closing & beyond, defined.
Closing is the execution of the definitive purchase agreement and the movement of funds. Escrow or holdback amounts are set aside, working capital is trued up, and ownership transfers.
Beyond closing is the transition: announcing to your team, introducing the buyer to key customers, and whatever role, if any, you agreed to keep.
This is where owners gain or lose ground.
Deals can still slip in the last two weeks over working capital, a missing license or a lease consent. Detail work here protects the number you negotiated months ago.
And the transition is your legacy. Most owners care more about the people who stayed with them for twenty years than about the last two percent of the price. Planning that is part of the job.
Our job at this step.
Three mistakes we see again and again.
Ignoring working capital
A poorly defined target can move hundreds of thousands of dollars at the last minute.
Announcing to staff too early
Before the deal is certain, an announcement creates turnover risk that the buyer will price in.
No plan for the day after
Owners who have not thought about what comes next often struggle more with that than with the negotiation.