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Buy. Systemise. Grow.
Just bought a business? Take it off the previous owner.
The value you paid for is often still in the vendor’s head. We document it, systemise it and find the operational upside in the first 100 days.
The first 100 days
Understand it, then redesign it.
- What still depends on the former owner
- Where revenue is leaking between enquiry and invoice
- Which admin is duplicated or done by hand
- Which software is paid for and barely used
- Where reporting is weak or missing
- Which processes need writing down before the handover period ends
Why manual businesses can be good buys
A spreadsheet-run business is an opportunity, not just a risk.
If the business makes money while running on memory and spreadsheets, the operational upside is sitting there. Systemising it is often the cheapest margin improvement a new owner can make.
Questions
About buying and systemising.
What should I do first after buying a business?
Understand it before you change it. Map how work actually moves through the business, list what depends on the previous owner, and find where revenue is leaking and admin is duplicated. Cutting people first is usually the wrong move, because they hold the knowledge you have just paid for.
What should be documented before completion?
At a minimum: the core processes, who does what, every software account and login, key supplier and customer relationships, and anything only the vendor knows how to do. Ask your lawyer and accountant about the legal and financial due diligence.
Do you work with search funds and investors?
Yes. We work with individual buyers, search funds, investors and owners making bolt-on acquisitions, either just before completion or in the first 100 days.
Bought, or about to buy?
Twenty minutes to talk through the business and what to do first.