Taking over a business?Keep what the seller knows.
Inherit reads the records of the business you’re taking over and interviews the seller 15 minutes a day. You get an operating manual where every line shows its source.
Read-only access, and only after you and the seller both sign.
Finance · a deal only Bob made
UnconfirmedSeller confirmedThree clients pay quarterly, on a handshake. Don’t send them to collections.
“Dunmore Dental, Riverside Pediatrics and Hale & Sons Law pay quarterly, on the 15th after quarter end. Nothing in writing. They’ve never missed.”
Found in QuickBooks
Two other offices look the same. None has been chased.
Not in the purchase agreement
What makes a business work is rarely written down.
It’s in the seller’s head, and the seller is leaving. About half of U.S. business owners with employees are 55 or older, and most have no written exit plan.2
Inherit finds it and writes it down.
Four examples from the manual of a demo business. Each one says what it means for you and what to do next.
Biggest customer
Seller confirmedYour biggest customer only wants visits on Tuesday mornings.
Their tenants are mostly seniors, and they complained about afternoon visits from the last company. Keep the mornings and the contract renews at the same price.
Bob explained why in his interview.
From the customer’s renewal email and Bob’s interview
Main supplier
Found in dataYour main supplier saves stock for Bob when it runs short.
It’s a personal favor, not a contract. Without it, jobs stall in the busy season.
Will they do the same for you?
From an email from the supplier
Money back
UnconfirmedBob gets about $10,000 a year back from a supplier, and only he knows how.
The claims go through his own account. If nobody learns the steps, the money stops.
How does he get the claims approved?
From credits in the books
Business license
Found in dataThe login to renew the business license is on Bob’s personal email.
If it isn’t moved before he leaves, you can’t renew the license.
From a reminder in Bob’s calendar
How it works
The seller gives fifteen minutes a day. Inherit does the rest.
01 Step 1
Inherit reads the records
Once you and the seller have both signed, you connect the business's email, books, job software and call logs, read-only. Inherit works out what the records prove, and lists what they can't.
- Inherit never sends, edits or deletes anything
- Any source can be disconnected at any time
- Google WorkspaceEmail and calendar Read-only
- QuickBooks OnlineInvoices, bills, vendors Read-only
- JobberJobs and dispatch history Read-only
- OpenPhoneCall logs and transcripts Read-only
02 Step 2
Inherit interviews the seller
Each weekday, Inherit sends the seller a few questions about what the records couldn't explain, most important first. The seller answers by voice or text from a private link.
- Questions about this business, not a checklist
- Each one says why it's being asked
Today’s questions for Bob · 1 of 6
When you quote an older two-story home, what do you add, and why?
Why we’re asking: your quotes for these homes run about 20% higher. The numbers show it, but not the reason.
03 Step 3
Inherit writes the manual
Each answer becomes a line in your operating manual, in the seller's own words, with the records behind it and a label that says how sure it is.
- Seller confirmed, Found in data, or Unconfirmed
- Every line links to its source
Sales · a habit only Bob had
Seller confirmedQuotes over $8,000: the owner calls back within two days.
In the job records, these quotes close 61% of the time when Bob calls himself, and 34% when the office follows up.
“I call them myself within two days, offer to walk the job with them, and hold the price for 30 days. Most people just want to know the owner stands behind the work.”
Backed up by
- Job records: 61% close on Bob’s calls, 34% on the office’s
Ask the seller
Ask what Bob would do.
Ask a question the way you’d ask Bob, now or after he’s left. You get his answer and where it came from.
- He answered it before: You get his answer, in his words.
- Nobody knows yet: Inherit tells you, and you can add the question to his next interview.
Dave is out tomorrow. Can someone else take the restaurant job?
No. Move it to another day. Dave is the only one certified on the restaurants’ gas equipment, and their insurers ask for the certificate.
What do the “+T” codes on the price list mean?
Nobody has written that down yet. Forty prices carry codes that only Bob uses.
For SBA lenders and brokers
A readiness report on every business you finance
With the buyer’s consent, see how much of each borrower’s business is written down and what still depends on the seller. The buyer shares scores, not documents.
The partner programAlvarez Heating & Air
Handover day 144 of 365
Written down
60%
of what runs on the seller, weighted by stakes
Seller days left
221
of the 365 in Bob’s agreement
Written down, by area
- Sales37%
- Suppliers70%
- Finance63%
- Compliance70%
- Customers100%
- Operations25%
- People100%
Metrics only. Documents stay with the buyer.
Nothing is read without both signatures.
How we handle the data- Read-only connections
- Inherit never sends email, edits the books or changes jobs.
- Signed consent
- Buyer and seller each sign before anything is read.
- Never used to train AI
- The business’s data is never used to train any model.
- Yours to disconnect
- Connect only what you want read. Disconnect a source and its records are deleted.
The seller’s time is short. Start on closing day.
SBA rules let a seller stay on as a paid consultant for up to 24 months after a full sale.1 Bob’s agreement runs 12. Every week you don’t ask is a week of answers you don’t get back.
Sources: 1 SBA SOP 50 10 8.1 · 2 U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey 2023; Exit Planning Institute, 2023 State of Owner Readiness