The First 90 Days as the New Owner

Change nothing at first

The first 90 days after taking ownership of a business are the period when the goodwill you paid for is most at risk. Customers, staff, and suppliers are all watching to see whether the change of ownership will affect them — and your actions in those first three months will determine whether the goodwill transfers successfully or begins to erode.

Keep the menu, the prices, the opening hours and the staff. Customers buy certainty, and your first job is to be invisible as an owner while you learn why the business works. Note everything you would change — and wait.

Cash, week by week

Build a simple thirteen-week cash flow from day one. Know your break-even day of the week — the day the week's takings pass the week's costs — and watch it. Surprises in the first quarter are almost always cash surprises, not profit surprises.

Earn the staff and the regulars

The seller's reputation walked out with the seller; what remains transfers only if the team and the regulars decide it should. Be present, be consistent, fix small irritations fast. By day ninety, the goodwill is yours — because you earned it again.

For a sector-specific view of how this works in practice, see our page on Restaurants acquisition finance and loans, including how lenders assess these deals and the areas we cover.