The 10-Day Tech Handover Playbook for Business Buyers

You spent months on due diligence. You reviewed the P&L, the lease, the customer list, the vendor contracts. You closed.

Then you walked in on day one and realized — you do not have the Wi-Fi password, the previous owner still has admin access to the POS system, and no one knows where the server is.

This happens more than it should. Technology is consistently the least-documented asset in a small business acquisition, and it is frequently the one that creates the most immediate operational risk.

The following is the ten-day sequence we walk new business owners through when they call us post-close. It is not exhaustive — every environment is different — but it is the right order of operations.

Days 1-2: Credential lockdown

Before you do anything else, change or revoke access. In this order of priority.

Immediately

• Change the administrative password on the router and firewall - Change or disable the prior owner's accounts on every cloud platform — email, accounting software, CRM, industry-specific SaaS - Transfer ownership of the domain registrar account to your name and email - Change the Wi-Fi password on every SSID in the building

Within 48 hours

• Change access codes for the alarm system and door locks - Audit who has physical keys and which ones have not been returned - Reset the PIN or admin credentials on the POS system - Transfer phone number ownership with the carrier — do not assume the previous owner's plan automatically transfers

The reason credential lockdown comes first: a disgruntled previous owner, a former employee with retained credentials, or simply someone who forgot they still had access can cause serious damage in the first week — intentionally or accidentally.

Days 3-4: Infrastructure audit

Now that access is yours, you need to know what you actually have.

Walk the physical space with someone who can read a network closet. Document:

• What is in the closet — modem, router, switch model and age, patch panel condition - How many network drops exist and where they terminate - The age and condition of any existing cabling runs (Cat5e vs. Cat6 matters; unlabeled runs are a liability) - Wi-Fi access point count, placement, and model - Camera system — DVR/NVR location, camera count, recording retention settings, whether remote access is configured - Alarm or access control panel — manufacturer, age, current monitoring contract

You are not trying to replace anything on day four. You are trying to know what you have. A network closet that looks like a bird nest does not mean you have a crisis — it means you have a cabling project that needs to happen in the next ninety days, not the next ninety minutes.

Days 5-6: Data and software inventory

This is where most business buyers discover their biggest surprises.

• List every SaaS subscription currently being billed to a business credit card or PayPal account. Cancel what you do not need; transfer what you do. - Find where business data lives — Google Drive, local server, external hard drive under the front desk. You need to know before you need to restore something. - Identify the backup situation — or the absence of one. If there is no documented backup process, that is day-one risk. - Verify software licenses. Industry-specific software (dental practice management, restaurant POS, property management) often has per-seat or per-location license terms. Make sure the license is transferred, not just the password.

If there is a server on premises, find out when it was last rebooted, what it runs, and whether anyone knows how to maintain it.

Days 7-8: Security baseline

You do not need a full security assessment in the first ten days. You need to close the most obvious gaps.

• Enable multi-factor authentication on every email account and every cloud platform that supports it - Confirm endpoint protection — antivirus at minimum, EDR if available — is running on all business computers - Check whether any computers are running end-of-life operating systems. Windows 10 went end-of-life in October 2025 — if you find a fleet of unpatched Windows 10 machines, that is day-one risk you need to plan to fix in the next ninety days. - Verify that business email addresses are on a business domain — not the previous owner's personal Gmail account - Confirm no customer data is stored in an unsecured format (unencrypted spreadsheet on a shared desktop, for instance)

None of this requires a security consultant. It does require someone who will actually go through every system, not just the obvious ones.

Days 9-10: Vendor and contract rationalization

By day ten, you should have a clear picture of:

• Which technology vendors have active contracts and what their termination terms are - Which subscriptions are month-to-month vs. annual (this affects how aggressively you can move) - What the managed IT or helpdesk situation looks like, if any - Whether there is a cabling or infrastructure project that needs to happen before you can scale

This is the moment to decide what you keep, what you replace, and what you want help managing.

What we do for business buyers

We do post-acquisition technology audits. We come in, walk the space, document what is there, give you an honest condition report, and tell you what the next ninety days should look like — cabling, security, managed services, or some combination.

We also connect business buyers with the Operating Toolkit — twelve business operating templates including MSA, contractor agreements, infosec policy, and business continuity frameworks. If you just bought a business that had none of this documentation, the toolkit is a fast on-ramp.

If you are in the Atlanta metro or surrounding counties, the assessment is the right first call. We will scope it on a 20-30 minute call and turn around a quote — usually same-week.

Request a post-acquisition assessment: norvetmsp.com/request-service