Seller wants to stay on as GM -- thoughts/guidance?

January 19, 2026

by a searcher from Northwestern University in Montclair, NJ, USA

I'm exploring a business -- mix of appliance sales, installation and service -- that has two sellers who started the business around 20 years ago. One is 70, not involved in the business, and very ready to move on. The other, who runs the business today, is 55 and wants to stay on as GM. He's not interested in keeping equity at this point in his life but wants to work for/manage the business for years to come. He likes the day-to-day and the team and the customers, but doesn't want to make big picture calls or set strategy. His son-in-law is on the sales team is a potential successor GM in the future. Has anyone kept on a seller as GM? How did it go? The kind of changes I'd like to make to the business to grow it are things that they know they need but haven't focused on -- a modern website, social media, digital marketing, and up-to-date crm/estimating/scheduling software. I'm not interested in running the business operationally day-in and day-out so in some ways having the seller stay on would be ideal, but I can see where it could be complicated emotionally or relationally given he would no longer be an owner.

Reply by a searcher
from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in Dallas, TX, USA

This is a tricky situation. Emotions drive the most complexity here. If the seller stays on as GM, the team will likely keep reporting to him, which gives the seller de facto control of the business. That can derail things fast. I’ve spoken to a buyer who kept the seller as GM, they disagreed on a key issue, the discussion escalated, and the seller walked out the next day with most of the team. The buyer sued, but the business took a major hit that year. I’d be very cautious here. Keeping the seller in a sales or growth role limits risk. Giving them the GM role is risky. Tread carefully!

Reply by a professional
from The Johns Hopkins University in Basking Ridge, NJ 07920, USA

I am happy to discuss my experiences at a granular level, but my high-level advice is that best intentions are often not realized due a variety of factors. Thus, if you do entertain this, you need the ability to make a clean exit contractually if it does not work out. Even then, there are risks since the changes you speak of can be taken emotionally by legacy employees/partners/consultants (even if perfectly legitimate) and cause friction in the business.

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