Whilst any sensible person will take care to check all aspects of any large purchase they make, this goes on to an even higher level when it comes to purchasing a business. Given that the sum of money that you are like to be paying will be substantial, this makes the financial risks significant. In addition, if you purchase a business without due diligence you could find yourself in a situation where you fall foul of commercial law, due to actions taken by the previous owners.
The key phrase in the first paragraph is ‘due diligence and within this article, we are going to outline the core principles of the due diligence you should take if considering buying a business. In addition, we also urge you to employ the services of a commercial lawyer who can ensure that every aspect of the transaction is legally sound and provide you legal protection too.
When you are carrying out your due diligence, almost all the checks that you make will fall within one of three distinct areas. These are financial, operations, and legal. Below we outline some of the specific checks you will want to make within each one of these.