Due diligence tells you what you're buying. It doesn't tell you what breaks in the first six months of running it.
Marketing: inheriting a brand without inheriting its context. A new owner often keeps the menu and the name — and loses the owner's relationships and read on the local customer. The real first move is smaller and slower: retaining staff, communicating the ownership change without alarming regulars, then investing in acquisition marketing.
Operations: the gaps that don't show up in due diligence. Common post-purchase surprises: inventory shrinkage informally tolerated by the previous owner, cash-handling processes built on trust rather than controls, and staffing structures built around one key person who leaves on handover.
Pricing: the "foreigner markup" is real, and it starts on day one. New foreign owners are a known target for inflated quotes from contractors, suppliers, and wholesalers — most aggressive right after a sale, when a new owner has no supplier relationships or price benchmarks to push back with.
Why this is a consultancy problem, not a checklist problem. It's solved by someone who already knows the going rate for a kitchen renovation, already has supplier relationships that don't reprice for a foreign name on the invoice, and has managed the staff-retention conversation before.
How we help post-purchase: through our F&B consultancy, we work with new owners on the transition itself — supplier and contractor vetting, staff retention planning, and brand/pricing positioning for the local market.