The sale of a business is often seen as the final stage in the lifecycle of a start-up, but it is often the beginning of new endeavours for the selling founder or material shareholder, as well as an opportunity to review personal affairs to ensure there is a suitable wealth structure and succession plan in place.

In this article we provide a non-exhaustive checklist of key issues the selling entrepreneur may wish to consider after the sale of their business. However, it is important to note that, on a sale of a business, timing is one of the most critical factors not only from a commercial perspective on the sale itself, but also in relation to the impact on post-sale considerations. As such, it is advisable to consider this checklist at various stages of the lifecycle of the start-up, although the matters listed might become more prominent after the completion of the sale.

This article forms part of our 'Business assets and liquidity events' series on the issues and opportunities for founders, or early individual investors, upon a liquidity event. Further issues in this series can be found at the bottom of this article.

• Tax obligations on the sale: Regardless of how the sale was structured and what form the consideration took, the sale of a business is likely to result in tax and reporting obligations. If not already sought, tax advice should be obtained to ensure accurate and timely reporting, in particular to ensure any available reliefs are claimed. For entrepreneurs with international links (and those who undertook a residency move as part of pre-sale planning [insert reference to previous article on this]) non-UK taxes should also be considered, with a particular view to aligning tax treatment to limit possible double taxation.
• Review of succession planning: The sale of a business is an opportune time to put in place a succession plan or to review existing wealth planning, which may no longer have the desired impact and could result in assets passing to unintended recipients without appropriate safeguards. This could also lead to unintended tax consequences. It would be advisable to review an entrepreneur's worldwide assets and structures to ensure that any current Wills and succession arrangements are fit for purpose. An entrepreneur may also wish to consider implementing pre- or post-nuptial agreements.
• Holding or reinvesting of sale proceeds: How sale proceeds are held or reinvested, and indeed by whom and in what structure will depend on the entrepreneur's objectives in relation to tax planning, family succession and wealth structuring – for example, it may be beneficial to hold the funds in a family investment company or family partnership. Ensuring that such objectives are met in both the short-term and the long-term will require careful planning. To the extent the entrepreneur transferred business assets to a trust pre-sale [insert reference to previous article on this], reinvestment opportunities would need to be considered with this in mind.
• Wealth management: The proceeds from the sale may significantly alter the entrepreneur's financial landscape. Depending on decisions as to how the sale proceeds should be held or reinvested, it may be advisable to engage with a financial advisor to select the most appropriate investment strategies and pension planning.
• Corporate considerations: The sale structure may have resulted in arrangements such as lock-up agreements, ongoing employment terms, earn out provisions or share awards. Each arrangement will likely contain terms, which should be reviewed (to the extent not reviewed pre-sale), to ensure future objectives can be achieved. Any conditional agreements should continue to be closely monitored post-sale to ensure any contingent payments are made as agreed. The entrepreneur may have also agreed to certain legal commitments, such as non-compete clauses, which should also be reviewed for legal effect.
• Philanthropy: If giving back through charitable activities is close to the entrepreneur's heart, the sale of a business tends to provide an opportunity to share wealth. While this can be done through direct gifting, setting up a foundation or using a donor advised fund may provide further advantages. 
• Reputational management: Depending on the entrepreneur's plans, it may be that a shift in focus or personal branding should be considered. Additionally, a sale which received much public attention could increase the public profile of the seller, leading to possible reputational and safety management matters to consider, both personally and in the context of the entrepreneur's wider family.

If you have concerns or questions following the sale of your business, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of our Private Client team.

This article is not intended to constitute legal advice but should serve as general guidance on this topic for business owners upon a liquidity event