Are you Buying or Transferring a Business? Get The Passwords!

When Purchasing a Business, Get All You Paid For....

Local businesses are sold or transferred daily. Restaurants, local shops, service companies and even mid-size companies change hands every day. I have some advice. Make sure you get all the online logins and passwords before you make the transfer. Too many businesses are left without access to their newly acquired websites, mailing lists and social media pages. These are your new customers and part of the deal. Put the responsibility on the prior to owner to find them, and transfer the logins before you complete the transaction. We have seen circumstances where they don’t have them, takes weeks or months to find them, have to recover passwords, or even get them from a former employee. Believe me, I've seen it all.

It can be frustrating and can hurt your business. A smooth transition is the goal. So many of the over 250 businesses we have worked with have experienced this problem. Most commonly, it is the social media that suffers most. A lag in social media can result in lost followers and likes and can start you at the beginning again with the algorithms and activity. I always stress, consistency is the key to any social media campaign. Too often, I have seen it take weeks, and even months, to get into your own business’ sites. There are ways around it, but they take time.

Make sure it is in your business contract*. Make sure both sides’ attorneys are aware of this important requirement to your contracts. Make sure you have them and can login. Then, change the passwords. Times have changed and so does the way business is conducted.