Owner staying on post-acquisition, in a limited role

Having a seller stay on, post-transaction helps with the business continuity and puts your employees’ minds at ease (they are seeing a young entrepreneur come in to run the show, often with little similar experience and that will scare many of them). Also many of the owner’s responsibilities are ad hoc and it is tough to prepare for some of these things beforehand, so knowing that you have direct access to the former owner can be very beneficial. With that said, the seller can be distracting and condescending as they will undoubtedly be insecure about selling their business and watching someone new run it and make changes. Personally, I found the pros outweigh the cons however it should be a finite period, with well defined roles and responsibilities for the seller.

So glad my seller WAS NOT involved with the company after a few weeks transition... Especially glad he was not a rollover equity owner...