I had a client who was desperate to sell his business, to the point that he settled on self-funding the purchase.
It is recommended that you exercise a certain caution and be truly careful with whom you self-fund for the sale of your business.
I was not made aware of all of the contract details, but again I recommended that they ensure that they will get everything owed, whether the buyer kill the business deliberately or accidentally.
In this circumstance the new buyer moved from QuickBooks to Excel spreadsheets, I believe this was a move to obscure the income, from both the seller and the IRS. The business had a strong local presence and patronage, the clients came in and placed and picked up their orders. The new owner wanted to move everything to the internet and shipping.
The internet can be a strong tool for small businesses if properly set up. The original business had an internet presence, but it was weak at best. The buyer also has a weak internet presence. I feel this is doomed to fail. The buyer has since implemented triple price increases, to chase away clients.
I will not know if the old client will get their hundreds of thousand dollars out of the buyer, I don’t think it is possible, but if so it will not be an easy task.