The key things to consider when buying a business in New Zealand

As a generation of business owners heads towards retirement, there are opportunities for younger Kiwis to buy an established operation – but there are fishhooks, too.

Accountant and director of SH Advisory, Sam Harith, told Nadine Higgins on The Prosperity Project podcast that there are plenty of traps for buyers.

He says clients not sticking around through a change of ownership is a huge risk.

“What you’re buying is not a client base. What you’re buying is a first meeting with those clients.

“And even then, they might just go like, ‘Oh, you’re not ‘Dave’. I don’t like you. I’m gonna leave this business.’”

Harith suggests negotiating a transition period with the outgoing owner to introduce the new owner to clients.