Seven Deadly Legal Mistakes in Buying & Selling Your Business

Shield Yourself From Deal Traps and Hidden Liabilities--Without Going to Law School

Seven Deadly Legal Mistakes in Buying & Selling Your Business

Shield Yourself From Deal Traps and Hidden Liabilities — Without Going to Law School

Buying or selling a business is one of the most financially significant decisions a business owner will ever make.
Yet many deals that look successful on paper quietly unravel later—not because of fraud or bad faith, but because legal risk was misunderstood, ignored, or assumed away early in the process.
This book explains why.

Seven Deadly Legal Mistakes in Buying & Selling Your Business is a practical business law guide for small business owners, buyers, and sellers who want to understand the legal risks that actually matter in a business sale—without legal jargon, deal theatrics, or fear-based warnings.

Rather than focusing on price alone, this book shows how risk is transferred in real transactions: through letters of intent, deal structure, due diligence, contract terms, and post-closing obligations that many owners don’t realize survive the sale.

If you are buying a business, preparing to sell one, or even thinking about an eventual exit, this book will help you recognize where legal exposure enters the deal—and how to avoid discovering it too late.

Inside This Book, You’ll Learn How to:

• Avoid common business law mistakes when selling a small business
• Understand the legal risks of buying a business before you commit
• Recognize why a letter of intent is not “just a formality”
• Understand the legal consequences of asset sales vs. stock/entity sales
• Use due diligence as a tool—not a false sense of protection
• Identify seller liability that can survive closing
• Understand post-closing obligations that keep buyers and sellers entangled
• Preserve leverage by getting deal-specific legal guidance at the right time

Throughout the book, you’ll follow Sarah, a florist whose successful small business attracts buyer interest. Her experience reflects the same legal issues faced by thousands of real-world business owners—issues that feel reasonable when they arise, but carry lasting consequences if misunderstood.

This is not a mergers and acquisitions textbook.
It is not a legal reference manual.
And it is not written to sell legal services.

It is a clear, practical guide to recognizing legal risk before it becomes expensive, disruptive, or irreversible.

About the Seven Deadly Legal Mistakes Series

The Seven Deadly Legal Mistakes Series is a practical business law framework for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to understand—and avoid—the legal problems that most often destroy businesses.

Each book focuses on a specific area where legal risk quietly enters day-to-day operations, including structure, contracts, entities, employment, taxes, payroll, and transactions. The books are written in plain English, without legal jargon or unnecessary detail.

Each volume can be read on its own. Together, they provide a clearer picture of how legal risk actually develops—and how business owners can manage it early, while they still have control.

About the Author
Brett Bacon is a licensed attorney and entrepreneur with more than three decades of experience working at the intersection of law and business. He has advised business owners, executives, and founders on the legal realities of building, operating, buying, selling, and protecting closely held businesses under real-world conditions.

His work focuses on how legal problems actually arise—through ordinary decisions made early, informally, and without a clear understanding of their long-term consequences.

He writes in plain English for business owners who want to understand the legal side of their business.