After the sale: handover, non-competes and life after the exit

Short answer. After you sell an eCommerce business, you usually stay on for a handover period, may still be waiting for part of the price, and are bound by a non-compete for a set period and market. Then you get your time back. Knowing these terms before you sign, and planning what comes next, is what makes the exit feel like a real Exit.

Key takeaways

• You stay on for a transition. Its length and your role are agreed in the contract.
• Part of the price may come later. Read those terms as carefully as the headline.
• You can't open the same store next door. Know the limits of the non-compete before you sign.
• Plan the handover in detail, especially suppliers, ads and customer service.
• Then you get your time back. Decide what to do with it before closing, not after.

What happens in the first weeks after closing?

Closing day is a strange day. The money moves, the access changes, and the business you've run every day now belongs to someone else. Then the handover starts.

Access and accounts

Admin access to the store, ad accounts, email platform, payment processors, domain, social profiles and supplier portals moves to the buyer, following the list agreed before closing. Keep a checklist and confirm each item. Then remove your own access where the buyer asks, and stop using any shared payment methods.

The handover period

Buyers usually ask for a handover period: introducing suppliers, explaining the ads, answering questions. Its length is agreed in the contract, along with what you'll do, how many hours a week, and whether you're paid for it.

A well-run handover has a plan:

1. Week by week, which function you hand over: suppliers, ads, customer service, finance.
2. Written processes to go with each one, ideally already in the data room.
3. Introductions to suppliers, the 3PL, key freelancers and partners.
4. A regular call with the buyer to answer questions.
5. A clear end. When the period ends, your obligations end.

The less your business depended on you before the sale, the easier this part is. That's why owner dependence is worth fixing early.

When do I receive the rest of the money?

You often don't get everything at once. A typical schedule can include:

• A payment at closing, the part you can count on.
• An escrow or holdback, a part held by a third party for a period, to cover claims under the warranties.
• Fixed deferred payments, sometimes as a seller note with interest.
• An earn-out, paid only if the business reaches agreed targets.

Each has its own risk. An earn-out depends on results measured while someone else runs the business. We explain what to negotiate in earn-outs explained.

During this period you'll want the reports the agreement entitles you to, on time. If something looks wrong, raise it early and in writing.

What does the non-compete mean in practice?

Most purchase agreements include a non-compete: you agree not to run or help a competing business for a set period, in set markets or product categories. Often there's also a non-solicit: you won't approach the business's customers, suppliers or team.

Read three things carefully:

• What counts as competing. The same product? The same category? Any eCommerce brand selling to the same customers?
• Where. One country, a region, worldwide.
• How long. The period starts at closing, or sometimes when your handover ends.

Know the limits before you sign, not after. If you already have a next project in mind, tell your lawyer, so the clause doesn't accidentally cover it.

Are non-competes enforceable?

It depends on the country and on how the clause is written. In many legal systems, a non-compete agreed as part of selling a business is treated differently from one imposed on an employee, because the buyer has paid for the goodwill it protects. It still needs a reasonable scope.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission's 2024 rule banning most non-competes excluded those entered into as part of a bona fide sale of a business. The rule was set aside by a federal court in Texas, and on 5 September 2025 the FTC moved to dismiss its appeals and accept that it had been vacated (FTC press release). Non-competes there remain governed mainly by state law. Elsewhere, rules differ. Ask your lawyer what applies to you.

What happens to my team?

That depends largely on the structure of the deal and on where they work. We cover it in detail in what happens to your team when you sell. After closing, your role is to help the transition: introduce the buyer, explain how people work best, and step back.

It's also normal to feel responsible for them. Keeping in touch is fine; just respect the non-solicit.

What about the money itself?

A few practical points founders often wish they'd planned earlier:

• Taxes. Know what you'll owe and when, especially if part of the price arrives later. Talk to your advisor before closing.
• Cash flow. If a meaningful part is deferred, plan your spending around what you've actually received.
• Advice. A large, one-off amount is a good moment to get independent financial advice.

How do founders feel after selling?

Relief, usually first. No more ad accounts at midnight, supplier chats or stock emergencies.

Then, for some, a strange gap. The business filled the day, the phone, the head. Without it, the days feel different. That's normal, and it passes faster when you've thought about what comes next.

Some founders start another business when the non-compete allows. Some invest. Some take time off for the first time in years. Some work with the buyer for longer than planned because they enjoy it. There's no right answer, but there is a better question to ask before closing: what will I do with my time?

You get your time back. That time goes to the next project, or to nothing at all.

What do founders wish they'd negotiated?

Looking back, these are the terms founders most often say they'd handle differently:

• A handover with a clear end date and a cap on hours, instead of "as long as needed".
• Payment for the transition if it goes beyond a few weeks of introductions.
• Earn-out definitions written to the decimal: which revenue, which costs, which accounting rules.
• Access to the numbers behind any payment still to come.
• A non-compete that matches the business sold, not every product they might ever sell.
• A plan for the team, agreed with the buyer before the announcement.

All of these are negotiated before signing, usually in the letter of intent and then in the purchase agreement. After closing, they're fixed.

A short checklist for after closing

Where it starts

A good exit is decided long before closing: by the numbers, by how much the business depends on you, and by the terms you sign. If you want to know where your store stands today, request a free valuation. Answer in 24 hours, zero upfront costs, commission only at closing.