Sold my first company in 2021 after 11 years. Thought I'd take a year off. Lasted four months. Ended up buying a small manufacturing business in a adjacent industry because I missed the pace. Here's what I didn't expect: the seller stayed on as a "consultant" for six months and undermined every process change I tried to make. Also, the books looked clean but the customer concentration was worse than disclosed - top client was 40% of revenue and they left in month three. I paid a multiple that assumed the revenue would hold. It didn't. My advice to anyone buying right after an exit: your energy and capital are high but your patience is low. I rushed diligence because I was excited to be back in the game. That cost me. Curious if others have bought soon after selling and what tripped them up.
What I learned from buying a business right after my exit
The consultant arrangement is a classic trap. Sellers who can't let go will passively resist everything. Did you have a non-compete or a transition services agreement with specific deliverables? If it was just a handshake "i'll stick around and help," that's on your attorney.
Customer concentration is the number one thing I look at now. Anything over 20% from one client and I walk or reprice hard. Learned that the expensive way too.
Four months offf sounds about right. I sold in 2019 and made it five months before I was browsing listings. The difference for me was I bought a business in a completely different sector so I had had no assumptions. Took longer to get up to speed but I didn't have the "I already know this" bias working against me. Might be worth considering if you do it again.
You mentioned the books looked clean. Were you using a QoE provider or just your own accountant? The top-client departure in month three suggests either the seller knew and time the sale, or the client had been signaling for a while and nobody asked the right questions during diligence.
What did you actually learn that you'd do differently? Not trying to be snarky, genuinely asking. You listed the problems but not the changes.
For what it's worth, I'd add that buying right after an exit means you're negotiating from a position of visible liquidity. Sellers and brokers know you just cashed out. That can work against you on price and terms if you're not careful about how you present yourself.
Realistically a QoE won't catch a client that's already halfway out the door. You need customer calls. Most buyers don't do them because it feels awkward. It's the only way.
msp_guy_2011 raises a fair point. The post reads more like a cautionary tale than a lessons-learned. Would be useful to hear what your actual process is now.
I'd also push back slightly on the idea that low patience is inevitable. Some of us decompress by working. The problem isn't the timeline, it's skipping steps because you're eager. Those are different things.