Due Diligence

DefinitionDue diligence is the buyer’s investigation of a business before closing — confirming that its financials, legal standing, customers, and operations are what the seller represented. In small-business acquisitions it is where roughly half of accepted offers fall apart, almost always over problems that surface late. The remedy is to verify the financials before the listing is ever shown, so the surprises happen up front, in the open, and priced in — not in the final week.