How to Evaluate an Online Business Before Buying

Move from a promising listing to an evidence-based view of quality, risk and price.

Start with the business model

Understand who pays, why they pay, how customers arrive, what keeps them, and which costs are required to maintain revenue.

Reconcile stated revenue and profit to source evidence. Normalize unusual costs and identify the cash demands that are not obvious in a summary P&L.

Measure dependence on a single customer, traffic source, supplier, platform, employee or founder.

Confirm that accounts, contracts, code, content, domains, data and operating know-how can actually transfer.

Use live listings as market evidence, then verify each deal independently.

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