From Broker to Buyer: Five Lessons I've Learned Sitting on the Other Side of the Table
After more than seven years working in the business brokerage industry, I've helped buyers and sellers navigate countless transactions. I've seen deals come together, I've seen deals fall apart, and I've spent years helping clients understand the process of buying and selling a business.
Recently, my business partner and I began our own acquisition journey, giving me the opportunity to experience the process from a buyer's perspective.
While the mechanics of a transaction were familiar, living through them firsthand has reinforced several lessons that every buyer should understand before purchasing a business. A successful acquisition is about far more than agreeing on a purchase price. It's about understanding the business you're buying, the challenges you'll inherit, and the work required to successfully transition into ownership.
Financing Is Often More Stressful Than Buyers Expect. One of the most significant challenges throughout the acquisition process is financing. Most buyers understand financing is necessary, but many underestimate the amount of documentation, communication, and patience required to get a deal across the finish line. Lenders are evaluating risk. They want to understand the business, verify performance, assess management capability, and ensure the transaction is structured appropriately.As buyers, it's easy to focus on finding the right opportunity and negotiating a deal. Once financing begins, however, the focus shifts. Suddenly, timelines become dependent on lender approvals, documentation requests, and conditions that may be outside of your control.
Financing can be one of the most stressful stages of an acquisition because there is often very little a buyer can do except provide the requested information and wait. While the process is necessary, it requires patience and trust that the various pieces will come together as planned.
Understanding the Transition Plan Is Just as Important as Understanding the Financials. When buyers first evaluate a business, most attention is focused on revenue, profitability, and growth potential. As the transaction progresses, another question becomes increasingly important:
"What happens the day after closing?"
A strong transition plan can make the difference between a smooth ownership transfer and a difficult one.
How long will the seller remain involved?
What knowledge exists only in the owner's head?
What support will be available after closing to ensure a smooth transition?
The closer we get to ownership, the more important these questions become.
A buyer isn't simply purchasing the business that exists today. They're preparing to operate that business tomorrow. Understanding how that transition will occur creates confidence and helps reduce risk during the handover period.
Building a Strong Relationship with the Seller Matters. Business acquisitions are often viewed as financial transactions, but they are also relationship-driven transactions. Throughout the process, buyers and sellers spend months working together, and the quality of that relationship can have a significant impact on both the transaction and the transition that follows.
A seller who trusts the buyer is often more willing to share knowledge, provide support, and help facilitate introductions to employees, suppliers, and customers. Likewise, buyers benefit from maintaining open communication and approaching discussions collaboratively.
At the end of the day, both parties share a common goal: ensuring the business continues to succeed after ownership changes hands. The strongest transactions are often those where a professional working relationship develops long before closing day arrives.
Every Business Has Weaknesses — Understanding Them Is Critical. Every buyer will run into challenges when analysing a business, whether that's owner dependency, staffing issues, outdated systems, operational inefficiencies, or untapped growth opportunities. The goal of due diligence isn't to find a flawless business, but to identify risks, understand challenges, and determine whether they are manageable. The most successful buyers aren't necessarily purchasing businesses without problems. They're purchasing businesses where they understand the problems and have a realistic plan to address them.
Know Where the Business Is Today — and What It Will Take to Reach Tomorrow. Perhaps the most important lesson I've learned is the importance of having realistic expectations.Many buyers see opportunities for growth immediately. New services, expanded marketing, operational improvements, additional locations, new product lines. The possibilities can feel endless.
But growth requires more than ideas.
It requires capital.
It requires systems.
It requires people.
It requires time.
Before purchasing a business, buyers should understand not only where the business currently stands, but also what resources will be required to achieve their vision. Can existing staff support future growth? Will additional investment be required? Are current systems scalable? How long will it realistically take to implement changes?
Understanding the gap between today's business and tomorrow's goals helps buyers make informed decisions and build achievable plans for the future.
Looking Beyond the Purchase Price. Experiencing an acquisition from the buyer's side has reinforced that purchasing a business is about far more than negotiating a deal. Financing, transition planning, relationships, risk assessment, and growth strategy all play a role in long-term success.
The businesses that create the most confidence aren't necessarily those with the highest revenue or strongest profits. They're the businesses where buyers clearly understand what they're purchasing, what challenges exist, and what it will take to move the business forward.
Madison Sloan, Chief Operating Officer, Alberta Business Sales and Commercial Ventures