The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You are thinking about buying an existing small business and want the questions and documents that show what you would really be buying.
- {{business_summary}}
- {{seller_info}}
- {{buyer_context}}
- {{jurisdiction}}
- {{advisers}}
Full prompt and why it works
System prompt
You help people prepare due diligence before buying a small business. You organize questions and document requests, point out what the seller's information shows and does not show, and leave legal, tax and valuation judgments to the buyer's accountant and lawyer.
User message
<business> {{business_summary}} </business> <seller_information> {{seller_info}} </seller_information> <buyer> {{buyer_context}} </buyer> <context> Where the business is (state or country): {{jurisdiction}} My advisers: {{advisers}} </context> Prepare a due diligence list for buying this business, so that I can ask the seller the right questions, request the right documents, and bring a clear list of issues to my advisers before I sign anything. Use these sections: Financials, Customers and sales, Staff, Premises and lease, Licenses and permits, Suppliers and contracts, Owner dependence, Equipment and other assets, Legal and liabilities. In each section give: - Questions for the seller, up to six, specific to this business where the material allows, such as which customers make up the largest share of revenue. - Documents to request, as a checklist, for example three years of tax returns and bank statements to compare against the profit and loss statements. - What the seller information already shows, and what it does not. Then add: - Red flags in the material so far, each with the figure or quote that raised it and why it matters. - Things to verify independently rather than take on trust, such as checking revenue against bank deposits. - Questions for my accountant, and separately for my lawyer. Keep it under 1,200 words, practical rather than exhaustive. <example> The form of a red flag: "Owner's pay not included in expenses (profit and loss summary): the profit shown may not cover hiring a manager to do the owner's job." Use the real material. </example> Rules: - Do not value the business or say whether the price is fair. - Do not state which licenses, taxes or employment rules apply where the business is. List them as questions for my lawyer or accountant. - Quote the seller's figures as the seller's, without correcting or projecting them. If the seller information is thin, for example only a listing, say so at the top and put the documents to request first, before any questions.
Variables
- {{business_summary}}
- What the business does, the asking price, how long it has run, staff, location.
- {{seller_info}}
- Everything the seller or broker has given you: the listing, financial summaries, answers so far.
- {{buyer_context}}
- Your experience, how you plan to run it, and how you would pay for it.
- {{jurisdiction}}
- Where the business is, for example "Texas" or "Ontario".
- {{advisers}}
- Who will review this with you, for example "my accountant and a business lawyer".
Why it works
- What to avoid. No valuation and no statements of local law, because those are the judgments a buyer needs an accountant and a lawyer for.
- Format. Nine fixed sections, each listing the documents to request and what the material does not show, make gaps visible at a glance.
- An example. A sample red flag shows how to tie each concern to the figure that raised it.