Screenshots are not proof. This is a list of what to see for yourself before money moves. Adapt it to the size of the deal.
Revenue
- Read-only access to the payment provider. No exports, no screenshots.
- Monthly revenue for at least a year
- Refunds, chargebacks and failed payments
- How concentrated it is: does one customer make up a large share?
- Churn
Traffic and customers
- Read-only access to analytics
- Where visitors come from, and whether any one source could vanish
- Whether rankings or an audience depend on the seller personally
Costs
- Every recurring cost, with invoices
- Paid tools on the seller's personal accounts that you will need to replace
The product
- Access to the code before closing
- How it is deployed, and whether you can run it yourself
- Licences for anything third-party
- Known bugs and outstanding work
Legal
- Who owns the code, the domain and the brand
- Contractor and co-founder agreements
- Customer terms, and whether customer data can lawfully be transferred to you
The seller
- Why they are selling
- How many hours it really takes
- What support they will give after the sale, in writing
What did you miss on a deal that you now always check?