Your First 100 Days After Buying a Business

Spend your first 100 days listening, protecting cash and keeping what already works, and make only the changes you can defend. Work in four phases: steady the business in days 1 to 10, learn it in days 11 to 30, fix and communicate in days 31 to 60, then pick quick wins and write the plan for the year in days 61 to 100. This plan is for entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) searchers, search fund CEOs, buyers who used a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan and holding companies doing add-ons.

Should I change anything in my first few weeks?

When you buy a business you buy people, routines and customer habits as well as assets. In the first weeks you know the least about why things are done the way they are, and everyone is watching what you do. A change made before you understand the reason for the old way can cost you an employee, a customer or a week of cash.

Michael Watkins's 2009 Harvard Business Review article, "Picking the Right Transition Strategy", argues that a new leader should first work out what kind of situation they are in, because a turnaround and a healthy business call for different first moves. The four phases below are our own suggestion.

Listening first does not mean doing nothing. A short list of items cannot wait: cash, payroll, insurance that is actually in force, and the notices that carry deadlines. Everything else can sit while you learn. If the seller stays on, ask every question while they are still reachable. If your deal uses an SBA 7(a) loan for a full change of ownership, the seller generally may stay only as a consultant, for up to 24 months in total for loans numbered on or after October 1, 2026. See what changes for insurance when the seller becomes a consultant.

What does the 100-day plan look like phase by phase?

Use this table as a starting calendar. Your purchase agreement, loan documents and policies may set earlier or later dates, and those documents win over any general plan.

The first lender or investor update in days 61 to 100 usually covers results against the deal model, key people, customer calls made, and insurance and license items, with no targets you cannot support. See how to report on insurance to your investors and board.

The insurance column is a summary. The full dated checklist lives in your first 90 days of insurance after buying a business, and the closing-day items sit in what happens on closing day.

How should you talk to employees, customers and vendors early on?

Tell employees first, in person, before customers or vendors hear it from someone else. Say what you know will stay the same and be honest about what you do not know yet. Do not promise pay, benefits or roles that your purchase agreement, benefits advisor or lender has not confirmed.

• Employees: hold a short group meeting on day one, then a one-on-one with each person in the first month. Ask what works, what breaks and what they would fix. Note who the customers call when they have a problem, because that person is often your real key employee.
• Customers: call the largest ones yourself in the first week. Ask what they value and what worries them. Read their contracts for consent, assignment and change of control terms, and for insurance requirements you now have to meet.
• Vendors and lenders: confirm credit terms and payment dates. Vendors may want the seller's personal guaranty replaced. Check what your lender expects you to report and when.

Each group also triggers insurance paperwork, such as new certificates for customers and landlords. The full communication plan is in employees, customers and vendors after you buy. If a person your revenue or license depends on starts to waver, see what to do when key employees leave.

Which financial controls come first?

Bank access and payment call-back rules come first, in your first 10 days. A second-approver limit follows by day 30, and the rest by day 60. You do not need to rebuild the finance function in a month, but you do need to know where the money is and who can move it.

• Bank and payment control. In your first days, make sure you are a signer on every account and remove old signers. Call back on a known phone number before you act on any change to payment instructions, because wire fraud is a known risk around closings and ownership changes. Once you know the normal flow, set a dollar limit above which a second person must approve a payment. See funds transfer fraud for new owners.
• Payroll. Confirm who runs payroll and whether the provider account was set up under your entity. If the seller ran payroll through a professional employer organization (PEO), do not assume its workers' compensation coverage follows your entity. Ask in writing what covers your employees from day one. Changing payroll providers mid-year can leave a gap in workers' compensation reporting, covered in changing payroll providers and the workers' comp gap.
• Working capital. If your agreement has a working capital adjustment, the process and dates are in the agreement, and the final settlement usually comes a few months after closing. Keep clean records so you can support your numbers. See working capital and the peg explained.
• Reporting. Close the books monthly and compare them with your deal model. Know the covenants in your loan documents and the reporting your investors expect. Ask your lender and counsel for the exact schedule.
• Insurance cost in the model. If your model carried the seller's insurance cost forward, replace it with real quotes. See budgeting insurance in your acquisition model.

Where does the insurance review fit in the first 100 days?

It runs alongside the operating plan, with three hard dates worth knowing. Check each against your own documents.

• Day zero. Coverage should be in force on closing day, in the name of the entity that now owns the business. Do not rely on an automatic window for newly acquired companies. Insurance Services Office (ISO) writes widely used policy forms, and its standard liability form has a limited provision of that kind. It only extends a general liability policy the named insured already holds, and it applies only where no other similar insurance is available to the acquired entity. It mainly helps a holding company doing an add-on, it carves out limited liability companies, partnerships and joint ventures, and it does not cover injury that happened before the acquisition. Where it applies, the window ends on the 90th day or the end of the policy period, whichever comes first. Other forms differ.
• Day 90, workers' compensation. Report an ownership change to your insurer well before day 90. In states that use National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) forms, and in several states with their own bureaus, the policy requires a report within 90 days. A late report can lead to a recalculated experience modification (the "mod") back to the date of the change, and under NCCI rules the rating bureau, not the broker or insurer, decides how the change affects it. Other bureaus differ, so ask your broker how your state's bureau sets the effective date of a recalculated mod. North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming run monopolistic state funds, so ask the fund how to report there. See workers' compensation and the new owner review of workers' comp.
• Day 90, SBA licenses. An SBA 7(a) lender must get evidence of required licenses within 90 days after final disbursement. Count from final disbursement under your loan, which may not be the closing date, so confirm the date with your lender. Required hazard insurance must stay in force for the life of the loan, and if it lapses the lender may buy coverage on your behalf and bill you. Flood insurance, where it applies, has its own rules.

A hypothetical example. A holding company closes an asset purchase on March 1 into a new corporate subsidiary and binds coverage effective at closing. Ninety days after closing is May 30, so that is the outside date for the workers' compensation ownership report. The buyer plans to start the report in the first week and finish well before then. The holding company's own general liability policy renews April 1, so any automatic newly acquired organization window on that form, if it applies at all, would end on April 1 rather than on day 90. Both dates go on the renewal calendar in week one.

The wider question of whether to keep the seller's policies is in keep the seller's insurance or start over, and the pre-closing checklist is at insurance checklist for buying a business. A Morrow review can help you sort the inherited policies by urgency, but any new terms depend on carrier underwriting.

Which quick wins are worth chasing, and what should wait?

A quick win is something visible, low risk and easy to explain. It builds trust with the team and gives you momentum. Save the big structural moves until you understand the business.

For the insurance items, see removing vehicles, drivers and equipment and when to remarket mid-term or at renewal.

Keep reading

• Your First 90 Days of Insurance After Buying a Business: A Checklist
• Employees, Customers and Vendors After You Buy a Business
• What Happens on Closing Day When You Buy a Business
• Working Capital and the Peg Explained for Business Buyers
• Should I Keep the Seller's Insurance or Start Over? A Decision Guide
• All guides for new business owners

Frequently asked questions

What should I do on day one after buying a business?

Confirm you control the bank accounts, that payroll will run, and that you hold written proof of coverage (a binder or policy, not a quote) for the entity that owns the business. Set a call-back rule for any change to payment instructions. Then meet your employees in person and call your largest customers. Leave the larger changes for later.

What should I leave alone for the first 100 days?

Change what is urgent or clearly broken: cash control, payroll, insurance in force, and any problem that risks a customer or a license. Hold bigger changes such as pricing, reorganizations and system replacements until you understand why things are done the current way.

When is the workers' comp ownership change report due?

In many states the policy requires you to report an ownership change to your insurer within 90 days, and sooner is better because a late report can lead to a recalculated experience mod back to the date of the change. Some states use their own rating bureaus, and North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming have state funds, so ask your broker or carrier how to file where you operate, and put the date on your calendar early.

How often should I update my lender and investors?

The schedule is set by your loan agreement and investor documents, so ask your lender and counsel. Many new owners send a short first update once they have a month or two of real numbers, covering results against the deal model, key people, and any insurance or license items the lender asked about.

Can I rely on the seller's insurance policies during the first 100 days?

It depends on the deal structure and each policy. In an asset purchase the seller's policies usually do not move to your company. In a stock purchase the same company keeps its policies, but they may carry change in control terms. Confirm with the carrier and your broker in writing.

References

• Harvard Business Review: Picking the Right Transition Strategy (Michael D. Watkins, January 2009)
• NCCI: Reporting Ownership Change Information
• U.S. Small Business Administration: SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs (effective Oct 1, 2026)
• U.S. Small Business Administration: SOP 50 57 4, 7(a) Loan Servicing and Liquidation
• Insurance Services Office: Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 (12 07 edition shown; check your policy's forms schedule) (carrier-hosted copy)

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, and not a coverage determination. Coverage depends on the actual policy wording, carrier underwriting, your purchase agreement and your contracts. Ask your attorney and accountant about deal and legal questions.