I know what you’re thinking:

Isn’t this playbook specifically supposed to be about post-acquisition?

It is. But before we dive into the nitty-gritty of day one, we need to talk about something most owners skip:

How to set yourself up for operational success — before you close the deal.

This is the first post in The Ultimate Post-Acquisition Playbook series after the Introduction — and while that was all about setting the stage, today we’re rolling up our sleeves.

Why start pre-close? Because too many buyers think closing the deal is the hard part.

It’s not.

The real challenges begin the moment you take the reins. And the better prepared you are before you step into the business, the smoother the road ahead will be.

This post kicks off the actionable part of The Ultimate Post-Acquisition Playbook with a focus on Pre-Close Moves That Matter. Think of it as your preparation checklist for operational success—designed to give you the confidence and clarity to hit the ground running.

Here’s what the full series will cover:

• Introduction: Starting The Playbook

• 👉 Pre-Acquisition: Pre-Close Moves That Matter

• Day One: Earning Trust

• The First Week: Controlling the Chaos

• The First Month: Gaining Traction

• The First Six Months: Stabilize & Strengthen

• The First Year: Growing Your Business

Let’s dive in.

Before we talk about what happens post-close, let’s address what too many acquirers overlook:

The groundwork that ensures success on day one.

Closing a deal is exhilarating. But if you don’t prepare operationally beforehand, you risk stumbling the moment you take the reins.

Pre-close preparation isn’t glamorous. It’s not the adrenaline rush of deal negotiations or the satisfying “congratulations” email from your lender. But it’s the quiet, critical work that determines whether your first year feels like controlled chaos — or just chaos.

This guide is about how to get it right.

The Power of Pre-Close Preparation

Being frank, I’ve seen this play out two ways:

Scenario A:

The new owner walks in prepared. Liquidity is secured, risks are mapped, and relationships are already being built. They’ve done the work to understand the business’s operations, financials, and people.

On Day One, they step into the role with confidence. Employees see a leader who’s steady, informed, and focused. Vendors and customers feel reassured because communication is clear and proactive. Problems still arise — but they’re manageable, not catastrophic.

The new owner spends their first few months stabilizing the business, finding quick wins, and creating a foundation for growth.

Scenario B:

The new owner walks in overwhelmed. They underestimated working capital needs, and cash flow problems appear immediately. Payroll is tight, and a delayed AR payment throws everything into chaos.

Critical employees, sensing instability, start to disengage — or worse, quit. A single vendor issue, like a late shipment or pricing change, spirals into weeks of firefighting. The team is unsure of their new leader’s vision or competence, which creates anxiety and resistance.

Instead of focusing on stabilizing or improving the business, the new owner is stuck in survival mode, reacting to one problem after another. Growth feels impossible because they can’t even catch their breath.

What Makes the Difference?

The gap between these two scenarios isn’t the deal itself. It’s the work leading up to the close.

• In Scenario A, the owner used this time to get ahead of the business’s challenges, ensuring liquidity, mapping out risks, and setting expectations with stakeholders. They walked in with a clear plan—and a margin for error.

• In Scenario B, the owner treated pre-close as a formality. They focused on the deal mechanics but neglected the operational groundwork. The problems they ignored upstream flooded them downstream, leaving them unprepared for the realities of ownership.

Ownership is hard no matter how prepared you are. But the difference between these two paths isn’t small — it’s night and day.

1. Shift Your Mindset: From Buyer to Owner

Acquisition is about buying a business. Ownership is about running it. These are entirely different skill sets, and the sooner you accept that, the better prepared you’ll be.

Ownership is heavy.

Every decision you make will ripple across the lives of employees, the experiences of customers, and the outcomes of vendors. The stakes are higher, and so are the demands.

This isn’t just a professional shift; it’s personal. The way you spend your time, the way you interact with your family, and the way you think about your role in the world will all change.

How to Prepare Yourself

• Set expectations at home.

  • Have a serious conversation with your family or partner about what the first year will look like.

  • Be honest about the hours, energy, and sacrifices required. Frame it as a shared mission.

• Protect your personal habits.

  • Identify non-negotiables—family dinners, a weekly workout, or one evening each week offline—and commit to them.

  • Ownership will test your bandwidth. Guarding these habits will help you recharge and stay grounded.

• Simplify decision-making.

  • Use tools to streamline personal responsibilities: meal prep services, shared family calendars, or apps for scheduling.

  • Free up mental energy for the hundreds of new decisions you’ll face in the business.

2. Bring Liquidity into the Business

Liquidity is the lifeline of a business, yet it’s one of the most underestimated needs for new owners.

The post-close J-curve often comes as a shock. Revenue might dip as you get your bearings, AR could slow in the transition, and expenses almost always rise in ways you didn’t anticipate.

Without enough liquidity, you’ll spend your first months firefighting instead of stabilizing the business.

Why Liquidity Is Critical

Expenses will rise after you close — often in ways you can’t predict:

• The seller may have been absorbing costs personally, like bookkeeping or equipment repairs.

• Unpaid family labor may disappear, requiring new hires or more of your time.

• If the business skimped on compliance or maintenance (shockingly common!), you’ll likely face fines, repair costs, or both.

Even routine upgrades like improving office space or handling deferred maintenance can mean thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses.

Your liquidity isn’t just for the predictable costs — it’s a buffer for surprises. It protects you from the compounding effects of delays, inefficiency, or revenue dips.

How to Secure Liquidity

• Negotiate cash on the balance sheet.

  • Work with your lender to ensure you’re bringing cash into the business on Day One.

  • If this isn’t feasible, secure a strong line of credit as part of the deal.

• Understand working capital needs.

  • Map out when AR comes in and how payables flow out.

  • Identify gaps and ensure the business is capitalized to cover them.

• Plan for the worst.

  • Assume expenses will run high and revenue may slow.

  • As the saying goes: Get money when you don’t need it because it’s hard to get when you do.

3. Contingency Planning: Face the Fear

Owning a business is as much about managing fear as it is about managing operations. The "what-ifs" will haunt you before and after closing:

• What if revenue drops by 20%?

• What if your top employee quits?

• What if your systems fail?

Fear feeds on vagueness. The more abstract the risk, the scarier it feels. This is why Tim Ferriss’s Fear-Setting Exercise is so powerful. Inspired by Stoic philosophy, the framework forces you to define your fears clearly and map out ways to prevent or address them. It’s a proactive way to manage uncertainty before it manages you.

How to Use Fear-Setting in Your Acquisition

Here’s how you can apply Ferriss’s method:

1. Define the Nightmare
   Write down your worst-case scenarios in vivid detail. For example:

   • Revenue plummets 30%, leaving you unable to cover debt payments.

   • Your key vendor cuts ties, disrupting supply chains.

   • Employee turnover skyrockets, and knowledge gaps derail operations.

2. Prevent the Nightmare
   Identify preventative measures for each scenario. For example:

   • Negotiate a line of credit at closing to stabilize cash flow during tough months.

   • Build relationships with secondary vendors to reduce reliance on a single supplier.

   • Document workflows and processes to safeguard institutional knowledge.

3. Repair the Damage
   Imagine the worst happens — then map out recovery strategies.

   • How would you rebuild cash reserves? Could you scale back non-essential spending?

   • How would you replace a vendor? Could you tap into your network for recommendations?

   • How would you handle employee turnover? Would you hire a temp or rely on a recruiting agency?

4. Measure the Likelihood
   Assign probabilities to each nightmare. Often, you’ll find that the most terrifying scenarios are highly unlikely. The act of quantifying fear shrinks its power.

5. Calculate the Cost of Inaction
   Consider what might happen if you don’t address these risks. If you avoid preparing for a 20% revenue dip, what would the consequences look like?

Why It Matters

Fear-setting transforms vague worries into actionable steps.

Instead of reacting in a panic when something goes wrong, you’ll respond with a plan already in place. This exercise won’t eliminate every risk—but it will ensure you’re ready to tackle the unexpected without losing momentum.

4. Structuring Seller Incentives and Transition Plans

The seller isn’t just a person leaving the business — they’re an asset you need to transition the company successfully. Structuring the right incentives and expectations with the seller ensures alignment and gives you the support needed to navigate the early days of ownership.

Key Elements of a Well-Structured Transition

1. Seller Notes: A seller note does more than just close the financing gap — it aligns their incentives with your success. When a portion of their proceeds depends on the business’s performance, they’re far more likely to pick up your call six months into the transition.

2. Earnouts for Volatile Deals: If there’s uncertainty or risk in the business, an earnout tied to post-close performance ensures the seller stays motivated to see the business succeed.

3. Clear Transition Expectations: Spell out in the purchase agreement exactly what the seller’s involvement looks like post-close. Common terms include:

   • 30–90 days of unpaid support. This allows for onboarding and knowledge transfer.

   • Paid consulting afterward. Set an hourly rate and maximum commitment.

4. Test Independence: Plan a break during the transition period — typically 75% of the way through. This “trial run” allows you to operate without the seller’s immediate support, giving you a list of questions to address upon their return.

5. Build a Transition Team

The early days of ownership are chaos.

From transferring utilities to navigating DMV paperwork, to holding for hours with government agencies or payroll providers — it’s easy to get buried in low-value tasks.

For solo searchers, this can feel especially overwhelming. You’re used to wearing every hat, but post-close, the hats pile up fast. The truth is, having an extra set of hands—even in a limited capacity—can make all the difference.

My team and I have experienced this evolution firsthand. In our early days, it was just me and Adam, marching into businesses together and tackling the chaos head-on. We divided and conquered everything ourselves. By our latest acquisition, we had a group. Tasks were split, systems were delegated, and we could focus on stabilizing the business. It was a game changer.

You may not have the luxury of a team — but you don’t need a fleet to make this work.

What I’ve Seen Work

Buyers have gotten creative about building transition support. Here are a few examples:

• A junior searcher: One friend of mine hired a less experienced searcher at a discounted rate to shadow them during the acquisition process. Post-close, this person took over lower-value tasks like handling paperwork and scheduling. A great win-win for both sides.

• A supportive partner: Another buyer brought their spouse into the fold to help with logistics behind the scenes — small but essential tasks that freed up the buyer’s time.

• Delegating to internal staff: Some buyers knew from the seller they’d have a reliable team member in the business post-close. They leaned on this person to manage admin-heavy tasks during the transition.

• Virtual assistants (VAs): VAs are cost-effective and flexible. Even a few hours a week can make a significant impact.

Why This Matters

The first days of ownership are your first test as a leader.

Your ability to allocate time and focus will set the tone for how the business transitions under your leadership. By offloading low-value work, you give yourself the bandwidth to focus on what matters most: building trust with employees, ensuring operational stability, and moving the business forward.

For more on this, read: Ruthless Prioritization:

6. Prepare for the Ownership Announcement

Your first communication as an owner sets the tone for how employees, customers, and vendors perceive you. Clarity, stability, and alignment are key. But how you deliver that message matters.

The goal is to position the transition thoughtfully, align with the seller on the narrative, and deliver the message in a way that resonates with the audience.

Start with Alignment

Before anything is said or written, sit down with the seller. Agree on:

• The narrative: How will the transition be positioned?

• Timing: When and how will the team and stakeholders hear about it?

• Roles: Which parts of the message come from the seller versus you?

A unified message that is shared together ensures clarity and reduces the risk of miscommunication or confusion.

Messaging Considerations

Your message should focus on three things:

1. Introduction: Share your background and why you’re excited about the business. Keep it humble and relatable.

2. Reassurance: Emphasize stability and continuity. Let them know you value what’s already working.

3. Vision: Offer a high-level look at the future under your leadership — without overpromising or making sweeping changes too soon.

Choosing the Right Format

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to delivering the announcement. Consider the audience, the culture of the business, and the context:

• In-person meetings: Ideal for employees, especially in small businesses where relationships are personal.

• Emails or memos: Best for customers, vendors, and remote teams who need a written record.

• One-on-one conversations: Critical for key employees, top clients, or anyone with a vested interest in the transition.

The key is preparation. Think through the delivery method, tone, and timing to ensure your message lands as intended.

More to come in the next post on Day One.

The Conclusion: Preparation Is the Ultimate Advantage

Pre-close preparation is the difference between walking into chaos and walking into confidence.

The steps you take now—securing liquidity, planning for risks, building a transition team, structuring seller incentives, and framing your leadership—lay the foundation for everything that follows.

Ownership will test you in ways you can’t predict, but preparation allows you to focus on what matters most: stabilizing, leading, and growing.

Yes, you’ll face challenges. The first year is a marathon, not a sprint.

As the saying goes, luck favors the prepared. In business, preparation isn’t luck — it’s the result of disciplined, thoughtful action.

Let’s ensure you’re not just ready to walk in the door but ready to lead from the moment you do.

A Roadmap for the Year Ahead

Over the next few months, this series will guide you through navigating the first year after an acquisition. Each post will focus on key milestones, including:

• Introduction: Starting The Playbook

• Pre-Acquisition: Pre-Close Moves That Matter

• Day One: Earning Trust

• The First Week: Controlling the Chaos

• The First Month: Gaining Traction

• The First Six Months: Stabilize & Strengthen

• The First Year: Growing Your Business

Whether you’re buying your first business or your fifth, these posts will give you the tools to lead confidently and create lasting value.

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The path to success isn’t simple — but it’s built one deliberate step at a time.

That’s a wrap.

That’s it for this week — thanks for following along. I enjoy reader feedback + ideas on what to write about next. Just hit reply.

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Have a great week ahead 🤙

Chase Murdock