What should you decide before browsing?
Set a budget that covers the purchase price and the work after handover. Decide which products you can maintain, how much time you can commit and which skills you will need to hire.
- Operating fit: software stack, support workload, market knowledge and dependence on the current owner.
- Financial fit: available capital, recurring costs, cash reserves and your own return requirements.
- Transfer fit: assets, accounts, contracts and customer relationships that can actually move to a new owner.
How do you compare startup listings?
Use the same currency, time period and definitions for every comparison. A business with higher MRR can still have lower profit, more churn or a more demanding maintenance workload.
Check the asking price alongside monthly recurring revenue, operating costs, customer concentration and the assets included. A revenue multiple is a starting point for comparison, not a valuation guarantee.
Use the MRR and revenue multiple guide to check the calculation shown in a profile.
What evidence should you request?
Ask for a clear asset list, a revenue breakdown, operating expenses, customer retention information, the owner’s workload and the reason for selling. Then reconcile the most important claims with records.
Read-only billing reports, processor payouts, contracts and a product demonstration are more useful than an isolated screenshot. Avoid requesting more customer data or account access than is needed for the stage of the conversation.
Work through the due diligence checklist before committing to an acquisition.
What needs to be agreed before completion?
Put the scope of the sale, payment arrangements, transfer order, handover support and acceptance criteria in writing. Use appropriate legal and accounting advice for the transaction and its jurisdiction.
Confirm which third-party accounts can be transferred and which must be recreated. Plan domain, source-code, deployment, billing and customer-support handovers rather than treating them as a single password exchange.
Refrenum’s current role: listing discovery, submissions and publication review. Buyers and sellers arrange their own due diligence, agreements, payments and asset transfers.
Further reading
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s guide to buying an existing business offers additional background. Requirements vary by business type and jurisdiction.
Common Questions
What should I ask a seller for first?
Ask for a clear list of assets for sale, a revenue breakdown, operating costs, the owner’s workload and the reason for selling.
How do I compare two startups?
Use the same measurement period and currency. Compare recurring revenue, profit, retention, customer concentration, maintenance work and transfer conditions. An asking-price multiple alone is not a complete comparison.