# Let the Buyer Work Inside Before Settlement

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/in-business-handover-map · Last updated 5 November 2026

You are selling to someone who wants to work inside the business first, and every staff member, supplier and client still rings you. Ivanka Menken uses the In-Business Handover Map inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to stage the handover across 18 months: what the incoming owner learns, who they hire, when the work moves out of your house, and which calls you stop taking at each stage.

## A buyer inside, and every call still comes to you

- The incoming owner wants to work in the business before settlement, and nobody knows what they are allowed to decide.
- Staff, suppliers and clients still ring you first, even when the new owner is in the room.
- Your plan for the handover is a briefing in the last week.

**THE MOMENT:** The incoming owner has started two days a week. On Tuesday they sat beside you while you took eleven calls: a supplier, two clients, three staff and a quote. They listened politely. On Wednesday a site lead walked past them to ask you a question they could have answered. Settlement is eighteen months away, and the only plan is a handover week at the end.

### THE HANDOVER, AS IT STANDS

- Incoming owner: two days a week
- Calls to the founder: all of them
- Decisions the buyer owns: none, yet
- Base of operations: the founder’s house
- Handover plan: one briefing in closing week

## A closing-week briefing

In this case, the founder ran a family-owned trades business of nine people at about $1.6m revenue, run from their own house, and had agreed to sell to an incoming owner who wanted to work inside first. The obvious plan was a full briefing in the week before settlement. It could pass on facts, not the trust of the staff or the feel for which client needed which call.

## The buyer had access, not authority

Ivanka noticed the incoming owner was in the business but owned nothing in it, so the team kept going around them. Before the founder could step back, the buyer needed to hire the first employees themselves, move the work out of the founder’s house and earn the staff’s trust in stages, with the founder visibly handing calls across.

## Sequencing, not a briefing

The real problem was sequencing. The founder was trying to hand over a whole business on one day, when knowledge and trust move in stages.
The reframe: stage the handover inside the business, long before settlement. Each stage gives the incoming owner something real to own and names the calls the founder stops taking, so the team learns the new number before the old one goes quiet.

> Trust moves in stages. The calls you stop taking are the handover.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Every month the founder stays the only number, the buyer learns less, the staff trust the change less, and settlement day carries more risk for everyone.

## The tool: In-Business Handover Map

The In-Business Handover Map is how Letting-Go Mentoring stages a seller’s letting go. It splits the months before settlement into stages, gives the incoming owner something to own at each one, and names the kind of call the founder stops taking, so authority moves before the keys do.

It is one page across 18 months, in four stages: access, first hires, the move out of the founder’s house, and staff trust. Under each stage sit what the incoming owner now owns, the trust checkpoint with the team, and the calls that go to them from that point. The founder’s call count falls stage by stage.

It replaces a closing-week briefing, a buyer who shadows without deciding, and a team that keeps ringing the founder because nobody told them otherwise.

### What goes on the page

1. Months 1 to 3, access: the incoming owner takes quotes and supplier calls
2. Months 4 to 6, first hires: they hire the office coordinator and a site lead
3. Months 7 to 12, the move: work runs from a small depot, not the house
4. Months 13 to 18, trust: staff and client calls go to them first
5. Each stage: one trust checkpoint with the team
6. Settlement: the founder answers questions, not calls

It sits inside Letting-Go Mentoring, where one handover is made each fortnight and checked at the next session. It is not legal or financial advice on the sale; the sale terms stay with your lawyer and accountant.

## From one briefing to four stages

In the session, Ivanka asked the founder to list every call they took in a normal week and who it came from, then to sort them by what the incoming owner could take now and what needed trust first. Together they set four stages across the 18 months, with the calls that move at each one and a checkpoint with the team. The founder left with the first stage written and a date to tell the staff.

### The questions

- Who rang you this week, and about what?
- Which of those calls could the incoming owner take now?
- What does the buyer need to hire or move to own the work?
- How will the team know the new owner decides?
- Which call will you stop taking first?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: A buyer inside the business who owns nothing yet.
2. The numbers: Nine people, $1.6m, 18 months to settlement.
3. The story: A good briefing at the end will be enough.
4. The commitment: Stage one written, the first calls handed across, the team told.

Before the next session, the founder told the team that quotes and supplier calls now go to the incoming owner, stopped answering them, and noted every call that still came to them anyway.

## Authority moves before the keys

By month 6, the incoming owner takes quotes and supplier calls, has hired the first two employees, and the team has a date for the move out of the founder’s house. The founder’s weekly call count is falling, and each fortnight one more kind of call moves across.

**BEFORE**

- Every call to the founder.
- A buyer who shadows and decides nothing.
- Operations run from the founder’s house.
- A closing-week briefing as the plan.

**BY MONTH 6**

- Quotes and suppliers with the incoming owner.
- The first two hires made by the buyer.
- A date for the move to a depot.
- Four stages, with the calls named at each.

The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one handover each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## Hand over the first call this fortnight

Ivanka Menken built Letting-Go Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who became the bottleneck. Selling the business does not end that on its own; the handover has to happen while you are still there.
This fits if a buyer or successor wants to work inside before settlement and the team still rings you first. It does not fit if you want the sale terms negotiated or legal advice on the contract. The decision in front of you is the first kind of call you stop taking. Name it and tell the team.

> During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.
>
> Business owner

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You are selling to someone who will work inside first.
- The team, suppliers and clients still call you.
- Settlement is months away, not days.
- You will hand calls across and stop answering them.

### It does not fit

- You want the sale terms negotiated.
- You want legal, tax or financial advice.
- The sale closes next week.
- You plan to stay in charge until the last day.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** The In-Business Handover Map is part of Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One handover each fortnight
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The In-Business Handover Map for your sale

Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join Letting-Go Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/dRmbJ19u01y114SeUodQQ0v?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=in-business-handover-map)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=in-business-handover-map#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Letting-Go Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/letting-go-founder-mentoring)

## Questions about In-Business Handover Map

### How long should the handover take when selling a small business?

Long enough for the buyer to own real work before settlement, often many months rather than a week. Stage it: access first, then their own hires, then where the work runs from, then the staff’s trust. Ivanka Menken sets those stages with you inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. The sale terms stay with your lawyer and accountant.

### Should the buyer work in the business before settlement?

Often yes, if the work they do is real. A buyer who only shadows learns facts, not the business. Give them calls and decisions to own at each stage, and tell the team. Ivanka Menken builds that staged plan inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. What they may legally do before settlement is a question for your lawyer.

### How do I get staff to go to the new owner instead of me?

Stop answering the calls that now belong to them, and say so out loud. Each stage names one kind of call that moves, and a checkpoint shows whether the team now goes to the new owner first. Ivanka Menken writes those stages with you inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, one handover each fortnight.

### Is the In-Business Handover Map legal advice on the sale?

No. It covers the people side of the handover: what the incoming owner learns and owns, who they hire, and which calls you stop taking. The contract, price and settlement terms are for your lawyer and accountant. Ivanka Menken works on the handover inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.


## Hand over before the keys

If a buyer is inside the business and every call still comes to you, start with Letting-Go Mentoring. The In-Business Handover Map is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.

- [Join Letting-Go Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/dRmbJ19u01y114SeUodQQ0v?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=in-business-handover-map)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=in-business-handover-map#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Letting-Go Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/letting-go-founder-mentoring)
- [Write your role after the earn-out](https://ivankamenken.com/earn-out-stay-role)
- [Build a sale-ready business before you sell](https://ivankamenken.com/sale-ready-operating-file)
- [The Letting-Go Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/letting-go-founder-mentoring)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka