# Operation & Growth Templates What staff, customers and suppliers hear. Part of: Operate & Grow the Business (https://searchspheresource.com/roadmap/operate) ## After the Close ### Day One Employee Announcement The note, or the words for the all-hands, introducing you the morning the sale is announced. Agree it with the seller beforehand so nobody hears the news from a customer first; the First 100 Days plan's first checkbox is exactly this. Subject: A note about [BUSINESS NAME]'s next chapter Team, [SELLER FIRST NAME] has news you should hear from us directly: after [YEARS] years building this company, [SELLER FIRST NAME] has decided it is time to hand the keys to someone who will run it personally. That someone is me. My name is [YOUR NAME], and as of today I own [BUSINESS NAME]. Here is what changes today: nothing. Jobs, pay, schedules, and the way we take care of customers all stay as they are. [SELLER TRANSITION LINE, e.g., stays on through the spring to hand things over properly], and I will spend my first weeks meeting each of you one on one, learning how this place actually works before I change anything. I bought this company because of what you have built here. Trust took [SELLER FIRST NAME] [YEARS] years to earn, and I know it does not come with the keys. Questions are welcome any time, in person or directly: [PHONE] · [EMAIL]. [YOUR NAME] ### Customer Introduction Letter The joint letter to customers and key suppliers in the first week, signed by both of you, so continuity is the message and the rumor mill never gets ahead of it. Subject: A change of ownership at [BUSINESS NAME], and what it means for you Dear [CUSTOMER FIRST NAME], After [YEARS] years of owning [BUSINESS NAME], I have sold the company to [BUYER NAME], who will be running it personally from here. I chose [BUYER FIRST NAME] deliberately: [ONE HONEST LINE ON WHY, e.g., they are keeping the whole team and intend to run it hands-on for the long haul]. Nothing about your service changes. The same people answer the same phone number, and every existing agreement, price, and warranty stands as written. A word from [BUYER FIRST NAME]: relationships like yours are most of what I bought, and I plan to earn them rather than assume them. If anything ever falls short of what you are used to, my direct line is below. With thanks, [SELLER NAME] · [YOUR NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL] ### Supplier Terms Confirmation Sent to each key supplier in the first weeks, when the First 100 Days plan says to confirm terms survive the ownership change. Suppliers often reset a new owner to prepay or shorten terms by default, and the cheapest time to hold the old terms is before the first order. Subject: [BUSINESS NAME] under new ownership: confirming our account and terms Hi [SUPPLIER FIRST NAME], I bought [BUSINESS NAME] from [SELLER NAME] on [CLOSE DATE] and I am running it personally. We expect to keep buying [WHAT YOU BUY] at [ROUGHLY WHAT VOLUME OR CADENCE], and I would like the account to carry on without a gap. Could you confirm the following in writing so my records match yours: - Account number [ACCOUNT NUMBER] stays open under the new entity, [YOUR ENTITY NAME] - Payment terms remain [CURRENT TERMS, e.g., net 30], and pricing stays at [CURRENT PRICING OR TIER] - Anything you need from me to keep it that way: [W-9, CREDIT APPLICATION, PERSONAL GUARANTEE, OR OTHER] If your standard practice is to put a new owner on prepay, I understand the reasoning, and I would rather earn the terms back on a schedule we agree now than discover the change on an invoice. [OPTIONAL: OFFER, e.g., I am happy to prepay the first two orders and revisit at 60 days.] The team and the day-to-day contacts are unchanged, and [OPERATIONS CONTACT NAME] still places the orders. [YOUR NAME] [TITLE], [BUSINESS NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL] ### First Lender Update After Close The first post-close update to your acquisition lender, sent in the 30-to-60 day window before they ask for it. It is the cheapest credibility a borrower buys: the lender learns you report on your own schedule, which is what they want to see long before a covenant test or a future loan request. Subject: [BUSINESS NAME]: first [PERIOD, e.g., 60 day] update, loan [LOAN NUMBER] Hi [LENDER FIRST NAME], A short update on [BUSINESS NAME], [DAYS] days after closing. Nothing here needs action from you; I would rather you hear the numbers from me on a schedule than ask for them. Where the business is: - Revenue for [PERIOD]: [AMOUNT] against [PRIOR YEAR OR PROJECTION AMOUNT] - Cash in the operating account: [AMOUNT], with [WEEKS OR MONTHS] of operating cover - Debt service coverage this period: [RATIO], against the [COVENANT RATIO] the loan requires What has gone as planned: [ONE OR TWO LINES, e.g., the whole team stayed, and the top ten customers all reordered.] What has not, and what I am doing about it: [ONE OR TWO HONEST LINES. If nothing has gone wrong yet, say so plainly and name the thing you are watching.] Ahead of the next update: [WHAT YOU EXPECT, e.g., the seller's transition hours end on DATE, and the first full quarter closes on DATE.] I will send the next one on [DATE], with [WHAT THEY ASKED FOR, e.g., the interim financials and a copy of the insurance renewal]. [YOUR NAME] [TITLE], [BUSINESS NAME] [PHONE] · [EMAIL] ### Monthly Report to Investors and the Lender The monthly report after closing, to the investors who backed the purchase and, in a shorter cut, the lender. What makes it trusted is not length but provenance: each figure names the report it came from, so a reader can check any line, and the bad news sits in the same place every month. Subject: [BUSINESS NAME]: [MONTH] report Hi [INVESTOR FIRST NAME], The [MONTH] report for [BUSINESS NAME]. Every figure names the report it came from. The month in one line: [ONE SENTENCE, e.g., revenue held, margin slipped two points on the price increase we delayed.] Numbers (against budget and the same month last year): - Revenue: [AMOUNT] vs [BUDGET] and [PRIOR YEAR] (source: [REPORT, e.g., P&L by month, accounting system]) - Gross margin: [PERCENT] vs [BUDGET] (source: [REPORT]) - EBITDA: [AMOUNT] vs [BUDGET] (source: [REPORT]) Cash and debt: - Cash at month end: [AMOUNT] (source: [BANK STATEMENT DATE]) - Debt service coverage, trailing twelve months: [RATIO] against the [COVENANT RATIO] covenant (source: [CALCULATION FILE]) - Loan balance: [AMOUNT] (source: [LENDER STATEMENT]) Customers and pipeline: [TWO LINES, e.g., the top ten customers' orders against last year, and what is new.] People: [ONE OR TWO LINES, e.g., hires, departures, and how the transition from the seller is going.] What changed in the plan, and why: [ONE OR TWO LINES. If nothing changed, say so.] Risks I am watching, with what I am doing about each: [ONE LINE EACH.] What I need from you: [A DECISION, AN INTRODUCTION, OR NOTHING THIS MONTH.] Next report: [DATE]. [YOUR NAME] [TITLE], [BUSINESS NAME] ### Retention Bonus Letter for a Key Employee The letter that keeps a key employee through the transition: a retention bonus paid in installments while they stay, written in the first weeks after closing. Paying it over time is what makes it retain rather than reward. Have counsel review the terms and the tax treatment before you send it. Subject: Your role at [BUSINESS NAME], and a retention bonus Dear [EMPLOYEE FIRST NAME], You are one of the people this business depends on, and I want you here for what comes next. To say so in more than words, I am offering you a retention bonus of [TOTAL AMOUNT], paid as follows while you remain employed: - [AMOUNT] on [DATE, e.g., 12 months after closing] - [AMOUNT] on [DATE, e.g., 24 months after closing] - [AMOUNT] on [DATE, e.g., 36 months after closing] Each installment is paid with the next regular payroll after its date, if you are employed on that date. If the business ends your employment without cause before a date, the next installment is paid at that time. [ADJUST WITH COUNSEL, including what counts as cause.] This is in addition to your salary and any bonus you already earn, and it does not change the terms of your employment otherwise. What I am asking of you in return: [ONE OR TWO LINES, e.g., to lead the service team through the move to the new scheduling system, and to train a second person on the largest accounts.] I would like to talk this through in person. Could we find thirty minutes on [DAY]? [YOUR NAME] [TITLE], [BUSINESS NAME] Source: https://searchspheresource.com/templates/operate Not dated: A template set is text a reader fills in, not a claim we checked against a source. Nothing in it can go out of date except by our own editing. Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt