1. Overview

Networking.app is the Hosting Platform ONLY. 

A. Neither Networking.app or any associates have access to Buying, Selling, Payments, Payment Transaction, Refunds or any other type of business transaction between the Buyer and Seller.

B. Refunds. Each Listing is Independently Owned & Operated, and all transaction must be handled by the buyer and/or seller. 

C. International Trade Laws. You agree that your use of Networking.app and will not involve any countries, entities, individuals, or items prohibited by sanctions, embargoes, regulations, or orders administered by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) or other government agencies.

D. Fees. Networking.app has NO addition fees outside the subscription service to utilize the platform at hand.

2. Networking.app Rights and Responsibilities

If Networking.app receives notice that your listing(s) content or activity violates our service agreement, we may at our sole discretion take action against your account to comply with their policies. Such actions may include canceling a transaction, disabling listings, suspending or terminating your membership privileges, or removing certain listing(s).

3. Buyers

Buyers are not required to have an account on the Networking.app Platform. 

Note: Networking.app strongly recommends performing The Due Diligence Checklist.

Due Diligence

Due diligence can be defined as the investigative process that is undertaken before signing a legal contract. More simply put, performing due diligence means doing your research on the Business.

Before you X a deal, every detail about the Business needs to be fact-checked and taken into consideration, in order for you to make the best decision.

Let’s Begin

YOU’RE ABOUT TO POTENTIALY MAKE A MAJOR FINANCIAL INVESTMENT.

Buying a Business isn’t something people should take lightly. You’re going to have to put up a certain amount of money to invest in this new Business Venture.

If you’re serious about the investment and perform proper due diligence beforehand, it can be a very profitable choice to make.

Any good Business-person will tell you: SLOW DOWN! Don’t make a hasty decision, take your time and make informed decisions that have solid and lasting impacts on your business decisions.

Step 1: Verify the owner’s identity and background.

Your first step is to make sure that the person selling the Business is the legal owner.  

NOTE: For Websites & Domains, you can check this by using a service like Tidal Branding WHOIS, in order to confirm the owner’s identity.

Your background check on the owner shouldn’t stop there. It’s important to do a bit of research on their reputation, records and previous transactions. This way, you can find out if they’ve had any negative business selling experiences in the past, and garner how trustworthy they are.

Asking questions is part of this process! 

Step 2: Research the history of a Website & Domain.

After verifying the current owner of the domain, now it’s time to dig into its history. Using tools like the Wayback Machine can help you find out necessary information about its past.

1. Has it had any reputation issues with anti-virus or anti-spam sites?
2. Is or was the domain of particularly high value?
3. What kind of content has it hosted in the past?
4. How long ago did it launch?

Step 3: Analyze and confirm the site’s traffic and rankings.

Any traffic information the owner has given you should be verified, as the figures could be false and screenshots can be edited. Ask the seller for read-only user access to the website’s Google Analytics account to confirm ranking and traffic claims.

Use a tool like Pixel Groove’s Sandbox and Penalty Checker in order to rule out any penalties the website has earned from Google. Furthermore, use SEMRush to dig into their page and keyword rankings.

1. Through which channels is the traffic coming from?
2. Is this a reliable source of traffic?
3. Is the owner paying for any of it?

Step 4: Perform a thorough cost and profit analysis.

You should be verifying the financials of the website. How does the website make money and how much is it bringing in? If Google AdSense or PayPal Payments are a major source of income, this can be verified through limited user access to the account data.

In other cases, you can use shared computer screens, Skype, Facebook Messenger. You may also want to ask for credit card or bank statements, or other financial records. Do the numbers add up?

A very important thing to find out is a rough estimate of how much it will cost to run the website as a success. What fees will you have to pay, if any, for things like licensing, content, hosting, code, design, advertising, etc.? How does this compare to the flow of revenue?

Lastly, compare your offer to other transactions. Is the price fair for its value? How much are similar Businesses being sold for?

Step 5: Verify the site’s tech requirements.

An important thing to do your research on is the website’s current tech requirements and whether or not they are functioning.

What kind of tech does the website rely on? Is this something you’ll be able to maintain, or will you have to hire someone else to assist you?

Dig into things like the programming of the site, and any software’s required to keep it running. What software’s are these, if any? Is the coding hosted by a third party, and what fees does that entail?

Step 6: Evaluate the site’s intellectual property.

Assess whether the site has trademarked creations and/or content that will be transferred over to you legally. Verify the status of any and all registrations to make sure they are owned by the seller before they are transferred over to you.

If the site has a lot of written content, use a tool like Copyscape to verify that the content isn’t plagiarized. Are the accompanying images royalty free and licensed for use?

Verify who owns brand details like the logo or website design. Will ownership transfer to you, or are there fees you’ll have to pay for regarding this?

Step 7: Assess any products or services currently offered.

If you’re buying an ecommerce website, or any other business that offers products or services, it’s essential that you get to know their catalog during due diligence.

1. How popular are these products?
2. What’s the competition like?
3. What is pricing and delivery like?
4. How can they be improved?

Step 8: Identify any existing contracts or employees.

Examine the relationships this Business has with suppliers, independent contractors or current staff.

1. Will any of its current team still want to work on the site after you buy it, and are you okay with this?
2. Are there any active contracts currently in place with suppliers, and will these be affected or will the terms change?
3. Are there any human resource aspects of the website you need to consider?

Step 9: Evaluate the existing customer base.

Compare the traffic rates the website has to their conversation rates and their existing list of paying customers.
Does the website come along with a list of email subscribers or registered users? Verify these numbers through a Skype call or limited user access.

What is customer support like for the business? Will you be faced with many unanswered help tickets? Who will your customers be and how will they react to any changes to the website?

Step 10: Perform necessary legal checks.

This final step is one of the most important ones you should remember to take in due diligence. Make sure the business you’re buying comes with any and all legal documents that need to be held for operating a business.

Check the owner and the domain’s public records for lawsuits, debt, plagiarism and/or tax forms. You can use a UDRP search to rule out any legal liabilities regarding the domain.

When in doubt, hire a lawyer to look over any agreements – such as noncompete contracts – signed between you and the seller. Note

Note: At any point if you need a Professional to help achieve your business goals. Utilize our Professional Services tab and any one of our Business Professionals will be happy to assist you.