See What the Business Really Depends On Before You Close
People, Process & Systems for Buyers
Before buying a business, customer risk is only part of the story. A company may have strong revenue, loyal customers, and a compelling growth story, but still depend heavily on the owner, a few key employees, informal processes, critical vendors, spreadsheets, or limited management visibility.
Mayfield’s Business Dependency & Post-Close Risk Screen is a lightweight, seller-completed assessment that helps buyers identify internal dependencies that may affect customer retention, transition planning, and first 100-day priorities after close.
The seller completes the assessment, the tool scores the results, Mayfield reviews the output, and the buyer receives a concise Post-Close Risk Snapshot highlighting the areas that may require attention before or after closing.
Buy With Confidence. Or Walk Away Smarter.
Are you an owner or operator, learn more about our Operations & Execution Solutions.
The Questions That Matter Before Close
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How Dependent Is The Business On The Owner?
Some businesses run well because the owner is still holding key customer relationships, pricing decisions, escalations, operating knowledge, or problem-solving authority.
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Are Key People And Roles Stable?
A business may look stable from the outside, but a few employees may carry critical knowledge, customer trust, operational continuity, or day-to-day decision-making.
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Could Vendors Or Partners Create Risk?
Vendors, suppliers, subcontractors, service providers, technology partners, or distributors can create customer, margin, or continuity risk if the business relies too heavily on a few outside relationships.
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Can Management See What Is Really Happening?
A business may be operating through memory, manual workarounds, spreadsheets, informal handoffs, or disconnected systems.
Designed to Support Customer Due Diligence
Customer Due Diligence helps buyers understand customer risk, revenue stability, loyalty, switching risk, and growth opportunity.
The Business Dependency & Post-Close Risk Screen adds an internal dependency view by showing where people, vendors, processes, or visibility gaps may affect the buyer’s ability to retain customers and manage the business after close.
Together, they help buyers better understand both what customers are saying, and what internal dependencies may affect the business after close.
How We Help You Find The Answers
A Lightweight Screen. Practical Buyer Insight.
This is not full operational diligence. It is a focused screen designed to flag potential internal dependencies that may affect transition risk, customer retention, and first 100-day planning.
The assessment is designed to be simple, structured, and fast. The seller answers a standard set of questions about how the business operates today. Mayfield reviews the scored results and turns them into a concise buyer-facing summary.
What The Screen Reveals
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We look at whether customer relationships, pricing decisions, escalations, critical business knowledge, and transition planning depend too heavily on the owner or a few key people.
Owner / Key-Person Dependency
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We look at whether the business has the people, role clarity, leadership depth, backup coverage, and onboarding structure needed to support continuity after close.
Talent & Team Stability
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We look at whether vendors, suppliers, subcontractors, service providers, distributors, or technology partners could create customer, margin, or continuity risk.
Vendor / Partner Dependency
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We look at whether the business can consistently sell, deliver, follow up, resolve issues, and track performance without relying on memory, heroics, or spreadsheets.
Process & Management Visibility
The seller-facing assessment is designed to be completed quickly and should generally take about 20–30 minutes. Timing for Mayfield’s review and report inclusion depends on the broader Customer Due Diligence timeline.
What Buyers Receive
Every screen produces a practical Post-Close Risk Snapshot that can be included with the Customer Due Diligence report including:
Overall red/yellow/green rating
Section ratings for each risk area
Highest-risk responses flagged for review
Open-ended seller responses grouped by section
Initial interpretation of what the results may mean
First 100-Day Watch-Outs based on the highest-risk areas
Copy-ready summary language for the diligence report
Note: This screen is designed to flag potential areas of transition risk. It does not replace legal, financial, tax, technology, HR, insurance, environmental, or full operational diligence.
First 100-Day Watch-Outs
Know What To Watch After Close.
When a section is rated yellow or red, Mayfield identifies practical watchouts the buyer may want to prioritize. Examples include:
Plan a structured transition for key customer relationships.
Identify decisions still controlled by the owner or a few key people.
Review retention risk and backup coverage for important roles.
Confirm critical vendor relationships, renewal timing, and backup options.
Document key workflows and customer handoffs.
Improve tracking of customer issues, delivery status, and follow-up.
Review spreadsheet reliance and reporting gaps that could limit post-close visibility.
This helps buyers move from general concern to specific post-close priorities.
What Makes Mayfield Consulting Different?
We understand the connection between customer risk and operating reality.
The value of this screen is not just the score. It is how the results are interpreted in the context of the acquisition, customer diligence findings, seller transition, and first 100-day priorities.
Mayfield helps buyers look beyond individual answers and understand what the patterns may mean. A yellow or red result does not automatically mean the business is a bad investment. It may mean the buyer needs a stronger transition plan, more focused diligence, clearer post-close priorities, or better visibility into how the business actually runs.
We help buyers separate manageable transition issues from risks that may affect customer retention, continuity, and future performance.
We’ve led businesses. Now we help buyers understand what may affect performance after close.
What Happens Next…
Simple 3-step process:
Let’s Talk - Tell us about the deal, timing, and what you are trying to understand.
Add the Screen to Customer Due Diligence - We generate the seller assessment link, collect the responses, review the scored output, and identify the highest-risk areas.
Receive a Post-Close Risk Snapshot - You receive a concise summary of the results, including section ratings, flagged responses, initial interpretation, and first 100-day watchouts.
Ready to Identify Post-Close Risk Before It Becomes a Surprise?
FAQs
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It is a lightweight seller-completed assessment that helps identify internal dependencies that may affect customer retention, transition planning, and first 100-day priorities after close.
The seller answers a structured set of questions, the tool scores the responses, and Mayfield reviews the output to create a concise Post-Close Risk Snapshot for the buyer.
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No. This is not full operational diligence. It is a focused screen designed to flag potential transition risks in four areas: owner/key-person dependency, talent and team stability, vendor/partner dependency, and process and management visibility.
If the screen identifies larger concerns, the buyer may choose to conduct additional diligence or address those areas in the transition plan.
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The seller completes the assessment based on how the business operates today.
Mayfield provides the assessment link, reviews the scored output, flags higher-risk responses, and summarizes the results for the buyer.
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The seller-facing assessment is designed to be completed quickly and should generally take about 20–30 minutes.
Timing for Mayfield’s review and report inclusion depends on the broader Customer Due Diligence timeline.
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The screen reviews four areas:
Owner / Key-Person Dependency
Talent & Team Stability
Vendor / Partner Dependency
Process & Management Visibility
Each area includes scored questions and open-ended responses.
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No. The seller only sees the answer choices.
The scoring, red/yellow/green ratings, flagged responses, and summary interpretation are used by Mayfield to support the buyer’s diligence work.
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The buyer receives a concise Post-Close Risk Snapshot that includes:
overall rating
section ratings
flagged responses
open-ended seller responses
initial interpretation
first 100-day watch-outs
This can be included as part of the Customer Due Diligence report.
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Not necessarily.
A yellow or red score means the buyer should pay closer attention to that area. Some issues may be manageable with the right transition plan. Others may require additional diligence, negotiation, or post-close action.
The purpose is to help the buyer understand where risk may exist, not to make the decision automatically.
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It is designed as an add-on to Customer Due Diligence, because customer risk and internal dependency risk often connect.
That said, we can discuss whether it makes sense as a focused standalone screen depending on the deal, timing, and buyer priorities.
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No. This screen is not a replacement for legal, financial, tax, HR, technology, insurance, environmental, or full operational diligence. It is designed to flag practical transition risks and help buyers know what to pay attention to before and after close.
Ready to Understand What Could Affect the Business After Close?
The Business Dependency & Post-Close Risk Screen helps buyers identify internal dependencies, transition risks, and first 100-day watch-outs before small issues become post-close surprises.
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