Due diligence: the checklist before you buy

A listing is marketing. Due diligence is where you find out whether the marketing was true — and it is cheaper to walk away in week two than to own the problem in month two.

Verify money at the source

Bank statements, Stripe or PayPal exports, ad network dashboards over a screen-share — never screenshots. Twelve months minimum; twenty-four is better. Revenue that cannot be traced to a bank account does not exist.

Verify traffic yourself

Read-only analytics access, not PDFs. Check where visitors come from: one page ranking for one keyword is a business one algorithm update from zero. For paid traffic, confirm the unit economics survive without the founder's ad-account history.

Ask the uncomfortable questions

Why sell something that prints money? What happens to revenue when the founder's face, newsletter voice or personal network disappears? Which supplier, platform or customer could end the business with one email?

Red flags that end deals

Refusing verifiable data, pressure to close fast, revenue spikes right before listing, and any suggestion to move money outside an escrow service. Walking away is a result too — usually the cheapest one available.

This checklist is educational, not legal or financial advice; for meaningful sums, pay a professional to run the process with you.