Question 5 of 10

Does the owner have to stay on?

Nearly always for a while. The question is how long and in what form. A defined support period of one to three months covers most transfers of a small online business. Longer involvement is usually tied to an earn-out or to a role the buyer wants filled.

The important part is that the arrangement has a date, an agreed level of availability and a description of what it covers. Open-ended arrangements end badly for both sides.

Where a seller genuinely cannot stay, that has to be said in the first meeting. It narrows the group of buyers and it changes the structure, and neither is a problem if it is known early.