Section four
Afterwards
The sale is not the end of the arrangement. Deferred payments, an earn-out, a non-compete and a support period keep both parties connected for months or years, and the period after signing has its own difficulties.
- 01Living through an earn-out
An earn-out turns part of the sale into a job with a bonus attached, and the terms of that bonus were written before anyone knew how the year would go.
- 02The non-compete
The buyer is purchasing a business and, implicitly, the seller's agreement not to rebuild it next door.
- 03What changes the day after
The calendar empties, the phone stops, and the thing that answered the question about what someone does for a living is gone.
- 04Starting something again
A large proportion of sellers of small online businesses start something else within two years.