The First 100 Days After Buying a Business: A Practical Plan for New Owners

Closing day isn't a finish line. It's the day the work changes hands. In the first hundred days you're learning a business the seller ran for years, keeping the team and customers steady and meeting your loan's reporting, all while making payroll.

I spent 15 years on the sell side of M&A as a partner at Five Talents Financial Group, then bought a retail business myself. In my deal, I was paying the SBA loan and the seller note at the same time, so cash timing mattered from the first month. That's why a daily cash view sits near the top of this plan. This is education, not advice on your business. Your attorney, CPA and lender confirm what applies to you.

If you're still before closing, start with How to Value a Small Business Before You Buy It and Buying a Business with an SBA Loan and a Seller Note.

A note on scope. This article covers the key elements and isn't intended to be comprehensive. For a detailed plan for your own business, consider our coaching option, or consult your attorney, CPA or buy-side advisor.

The week before closing

The smoothest first days are prepared before you own anything:

• A handover list from the seller: passwords and admin accounts, vendor and customer contacts, recurring payments, licenses, keys and alarm codes.
• Insurance in force at closing, matching what your loan authorization requires.
• Bank and payment accounts ready, so deposits, card processing and payroll don't skip a beat.
• An announcement plan: who hears first (usually employees), then key customers and vendors, and who delivers the message.
• The seller's transition schedule, in writing: which days, which topics and which introductions.

Day 1: take control, keep things running

Day 1 is about control and continuity. Confirm access to the bank accounts, payroll, point of sale and key software through a proper ownership transfer, not the seller's personal logins, and make sure the first payroll runs on time. Then meet the team, ideally with the seller present, and say plainly what's changing (ownership) and what isn't (their jobs and pay).

Transfer supplier and customer accounts early

Of everything in the first 100 days, moving supplier and customer accounts into your name may matter most. Without them you can't buy or bill, and many don't transfer automatically.

Ideally you verified this in due diligence: whether each key contract is assignable, whether it needs the other party's consent, whether a change-of-control clause applies, what credit terms the business has now, and whether suppliers will require a new credit application. Key customer contracts, open purchase orders and any dealer or distributor agreements deserve the same check, with your attorney reviewing the assignment and consent language. Whatever was left open at closing, finishing these transfers is the top priority.

• Make one list of every supplier, customer, dealer and distributor account, with its contract, its consent or assignment terms and its status.
• Name who owns each relationship, on your side and the seller's.
• Do joint introductions with the seller, starting with the largest and most fragile accounts.
• Expect paperwork: new credit applications and, in some cases, a request for a personal guarantee. Read any guarantee with your attorney before signing.
• Watch for terms that reset. A new account may start with shorter payment terms, a lower credit limit, a deposit or new pricing. Put that in your cash forecast.
• Update payment and remit-to details in both directions: customer invoices, supplier remittance information and bank details.

Days 1 to 30: listen and stabilize

The default for the first month is to change very little and learn a lot.

• Hold one-on-ones with every key person. Ask what works, what frustrates them and what only the seller knew.
• Look at cash every day: what came in, what went out and what's due this week.

There are exceptions to "change nothing." If you find unpaid taxes, a cash shortfall, a safety issue or information that contradicts what you were told in diligence, act on it right away and bring in your attorney or CPA as needed.

Days 31 to 60: learn and verify

Now test your underwriting against reality.

• Walk every core process end to end: quoting, ordering, fulfillment, billing, collections and payroll.
• Compare actual results with the earnings and add-backs you underwrote. If an add-back isn't showing up as savings, you want to know now.
• Set up a monthly close so you see a real P&L within a couple of weeks of each month-end.
• Build a 13-week cash forecast and update it weekly. It's the best early warning tool I know, especially when you're paying more than one lender.

Days 61 to 100: improve deliberately

Now you can change things, carefully.

• Pick 3 to 5 priorities, each with an owner, a measure and a date.
• Build a 12-month budget from what you've actually seen, not from the listing.
• Hold a day-100 review: what you learned, what surprised you, what's working, and what the next 12 months need to accomplish.

A simple KPI dashboard

Track 8 to 12 measures weekly, on one page. Here's a sample layout with made-up numbers:

Add measures specific to your business. The point is seeing a trend while it's still small.

Your lender after closing

Your loan documents set what you report and when. Read them with your attorney in the first week and put every date on one calendar: financial statements, insurance renewals, consents and seller note payments.

SBA's servicing rules for lenders, SOP 50 57 (version 4, effective November 1, 2025), explain what your lender is watching:

• If your loan documents require financial statements, the lender should request and review them. It may charge a fee for past-due statements and can require them before considering future requests.
• Lenders must monitor that required insurance stays in force for the life of the loan, and the SOP addresses force-placing coverage if a policy lapses.
• Lenders generally shouldn't modify a standby agreement to allow payments to a standby creditor, such as a seller on full standby, unless prudent servicing supports it.
• Lenders generally shouldn't loosen management covenants, such as limits on compensation or dividends, without good reason.

For how seller note payments interact with your SBA loan, see the seller note guide.

How long the seller can stay

Under SOP 50 10 8.1, Appendix 15, the seller in an initial acquisition or business expansion may not remain as an officer, director, stockholder or employee of the business. If a transition period is needed, the business may contract with the seller as a consultant for no more than 24 months in total, including any extensions. There are exceptions, such as a partial owner buyout or a sale to an ESOP. Earlier versions were stricter: SOP 50 10 8 allowed a consulting period of no more than 12 months. Which version applies depends on when your loan received its SBA loan number, so confirm with your lender.

People: who to keep close, and what to hold off on

The business you bought is mostly its people. Spend time early with the two or three whose departure would hurt most. Clarify decision rights: who can approve a discount, a purchase or a schedule change now that the seller is gone. Hold off on reorganizing, changing pay plans or replacing long-time vendors until you understand why things are the way they are.

Common mistakes

• Changing too much, too fast, before you understand the business
• Underfunding working capital, then managing the business from the bank balance
• Missing post-closing deadlines in the loan documents, insurance renewals or tax filings, such as IRS Form 8594, which buyer and seller generally file after an asset purchase
• Leaving account transfers half done

Your 100-day checklist

• Handover list, insurance and accounts ready before closing
• Day 1: account access through proper transfer, first payroll confirmed, team meeting held
• One-on-ones with every key person in the first 30 days
• Daily cash view from week one
• Every supplier, customer, dealer and distributor account transferred or confirmed, with consents, credit terms and remit-to details updated
• Every process walked, and results compared with the underwritten add-backs
• Monthly close and a 13-week cash forecast in place by day 60
• One calendar of loan, insurance, tax and seller note dates
• Seller consulting schedule in writing, within SBA limits
• KPI dashboard reviewed weekly
• 3 to 5 priorities, a 12-month budget and a day-100 review

Related guides: How to value a small business before you buy it · Buying a business with an SBA loan and a seller note

A reminder: this guide covers the key elements, not everything. For a detailed personal plan, consider coaching, or consult your attorney, CPA or buy-side advisor.

Disclaimer. Education and general business analysis only. This is not investment, legal, tax, accounting or lending advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or restructure any business. Your loan documents control; confirm requirements with your lender, attorney and CPA.

About the author. Michael Keck has spent 15 years in sell-side M&A as a partner at Five Talents Financial Group since 2011. He bought and operates a retail business of his own. He is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Asbury University, holds an MBA from Duke and is a Ph.D. candidate at ESCP Business School. His working paper on entrepreneurship through acquisition is on SSRN.