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Attorney for Buying a Business: Stop Buying Someone's Job Disguised as a Business

Most business buyers in Sydney don’t lose money on bad businesses. They lose it on businesses that look profitable until the owner walks out the door.

Our attorneys for buying a business investigate what happens after settlement and not just what the broker’s memorandum claims. Contact us before you make an offer.

What Most Business Buyers Don’t Know

You’re not buying a cafe. You’re buying the owner’s 6am start, their supplier relationships, and their ability to work the espresso machine during Saturday rushes.

You’re not buying a trades business. You’re buying one person’s reputation, their site manager who’s actually their brother-in-law, and a client list that exists in someone else’s phone.

Standard solicitors verify the contract. They check the lease. They confirm the ABN is registered. But they don’t tell you the business dies in three months without the current owner.

Where Lazarus Legal Comes In

Our attorneys for buying a business review what keeps the revenue coming after settlement. We investigate customer concentration, supplier dependencies, and whether key staff are actually employees or just mates doing the owner a favour. This operational focus has identified deal-breaking issues in 40% of the acquisitions we review, issues that justified price reductions averaging $80K to $150K, or walking away entirely.

Who's Actually Reviewing Your Deal

Led by Mark Lazarus, former Legal Director at Monster Energy, our team has reviewed over 160 business acquisitions across manufacturing, retail, services, and technology. We’ve seen businesses selling at 2x EBITDA that were actually just purchasing someone’s 70-hour work week.

Every review is handled by a senior NSW-qualified lawyer who asks the questions brokers hate: “What happens if this person leaves?” and “Who actually owns the customer relationships?”

How We Check What Others Miss

We assist business buyers across Sydney and regional NSW with acquisition reviews that extend beyond contract verification. Our attorneys investigate operational sustainability, owner dependencies, and whether the business model functions when someone new is signing the invoices. Typical instructions include:

Pre-offer operational and financial review
Business sale agreement drafting and negotiation
Customer concentration and supplier dependency analysis
Employment structure review and key staff retention risk
Asset purchase vs share purchase structure advice
Intellectual property ownership verification
Post-settlement warranty claims and dispute resolution

You get a written report identifying every operational dependency, every owner relationship disguised as a business system, and every customer concentration risk that threatens revenue after settlement.

Standard Solicitors

Lazarus Legal

What You Avoid With A Proper Review

With Lazarus Legal, you avoid buying a job. You avoid inheriting a business that requires you to work 60-hour weeks just to maintain current revenue. You avoid discovering six months post-settlement that the “30 repeat customers” were actually just the previous owner’s mates, and they’ve all followed him to his new venture. Our clients know exactly what they’re buying: transferable systems or an expensive operational rebuild.

Stop buying someone else's job disguised as a business

Find the hidden dependencies that justify paying 30% less or walking away entirely. Know whether you’re buying real systems or just inheriting the owner’s 15-year relationship with the suburb.

How We Review Business Acquisitions

Send us the information memorandum, financials, and vendor materials. We begin operational review within 24 hours and flag obvious red flags immediately, often before you've scheduled the site visit.
We investigate revenue sustainability and ownership dependencies. Within 48 hours, you receive verbal briefing on material concerns: customer concentration, supplier lock-in, key person risks that change the entire deal thesis.
Our team verifies financial claims against operational reality. We test whether the reported profit survives without the owner's unpaid overtime, family member discounts, or "consulting income" that's actually just the business subsidising another venture.
You receive a written report with evidence and recommendations. Every risk is documented with specific references from vendor materials, industry benchmarks, and commercial reality. Every finding includes our recommendation: renegotiate price, restructure terms, or terminate.
We negotiate agreements that protect you post-settlement. Earn-out clauses tied to real performance metrics. Restraint clauses that actually prevent competition. Warranty terms that give you recourse for unpleasant surprises.

Carly Shamgar

Best of the best. Professional, prompt and always offering excellent advice. I’ve used Mark and his team for multiple businesses from a tech start up to more established businesses. Mark has advised on employee contracts, shareholders agreements, trade marks and more. I wouldn’t use any other legal service provider.

Colleen Whittaker

I’ve worked with Lazarus Legal on several matters and have always been impressed with the level of service provided. They are professional and knowledgeable, and take the time to explain things clearly, which makes the whole process much less stressful. Mark and his team are reliable, efficient, and genuinely focused on achieving the best outcome. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a lawyer who provides not only expert advice but also outstanding client care.

Ella Burgess

I highly recommend Mark and the team at Lazarus Legal. They assisted me with reviewing and negotiating a commercial lease. The entire process straightforward and stress-free. Thank you!

Strategic Agreements by Skilled Business Lawyers in Sydney

Schedule a consultation about your legal requirements.

Initial consultation focuses on your situation, risks, and solutions.

You get specific advice and clear recommendations protecting interests while achieving objectives.

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What Business Buyers Ask Before Hiring an Attorney

How much does an attorney for buying a business cost in Sydney?

Legal fees for acquisition reviews typically range from $3,500 to $6,500 for businesses under $500K purchase price, increasing to $8,500 to $15,000 for complex transactions involving multiple entities or property leases. We provide fixed-fee quotes before engagement based on transaction structure and vendor disclosure volume.

What's the difference between an attorney and a solicitor in NSW?

A proper acquisition review investigates customer concentration, supplier dependencies, employment reality, and whether reported profits survive without the owner’s unpaid labour. Your attorney should verify that intellectual property, customer databases, and proprietary processes are actually owned by the business entity being purchased and not personally held by the current owner.

Should I hire an attorney before making an offer?

Engage an attorney before submitting written offers or paying deposits. Early legal review identifies operational risks that either prevent you from making an offer or justify offering 30-40% below asking price. Pre-offer reviews cost $1,500 to $3,500 and regularly save buyers tens or hundreds of thousands by identifying issues before you’ve committed psychologically and financially to a transaction.

What happens if the seller lied about the business?

If a seller provided false financial information or concealed material liabilities in NSW, you may have remedies through breach of warranty claims, misleading and deceptive conduct actions under Australian Consumer Law, or contractual misrepresentation claims depending on your sale agreement structure.