Diligence and professional review sit outside the purchase price: accounting review, business valuation, lease assignment work, licence transfers, escrow charges, and legal advice on the agreement. Government charges and legal fees are separate from invested capital. Add a working-capital reserve for the first months of ownership, when the seller's momentum may fade before the buyer's own arrangements take hold.
Find the liabilities hidden under a low asking price
A modest price often reflects something the seller is carrying: restoration obligations in the lease, deferred equipment replacement, unpaid vendor balances, or staff entitlements. Ask which of these transfer with the business and price them into the plan. Confirm current official fees for whichever route applies at the time of that step, and ask any adviser for an itemized scope so that diligence work, transaction work, and family filings can be seen as distinct commitments.
Set the working-capital reserve as a figure rather than an intention. Decide how many months of payroll, rent and supplier terms the buyer can fund if revenue dips during the handover, and write that number beside the purchase price. Ask separately what it would cost to document the source of funds properly where records are old or held in another country, since that work is frequently the largest single professional item and is rarely quoted at the outset.
Hypothetical example: the buyer of a nutrition-supplement brand discovers that tracing a decade-old inheritance requires probate records from abroad, adding both expense and months to the schedule.