How do I hand over my flooring store’s builder and contractor accounts to a buyer?

Begin by listing every builder and contractor account with what each buys, how often, and how reliably they pay. Include any open quotes, pending installs and balances owing in either direction. Your accountant can help you present receivables and payables cleanly.

Decide the order of introductions. Take the biggest accounts to lunch or onto a job site with the buyer, and say plainly that you are staying involved for a stretch. Smaller accounts can get a phone call and a short note.

Write down what you promised each account: special pricing, priority scheduling, a favourite installer, payment terms. A buyer cannot honour a promise nobody told them about. Agree with the buyer on which arrangements continue and which end, then tell the customers before they hear it elsewhere. Finally, set a clear handover period in the sale agreement, so your availability to those accounts is spelled out. Your lawyer can draft it. Keep a simple log of each conversation during the handover so the buyer knows where every account stands. After the introductions, check in with the biggest accounts yourself a few weeks later and ask how things are going. Builders remember who solved their problem on a tight schedule, so pass on the little habits too: who prefers a text, who needs paperwork early, and who pays late but reliably.

Key takeaways

• List every account with its history, terms and open balances.
• Introduce the buyer in person, largest accounts first.
• Write down every promise you made, then decide which continue.