Why Buyers Of Online Businesses Waste Time On Wrong Deals
The High Failure Rate of Acquisitions
A stark truth is that most business acquisitions fail to deliver the expected value.
Multiple studies show that between 70 and 90% of acquisitions miss their mark.
In many cases, the buyer ends up worse off than before. This alone should caution you to question every deal carefully.
For online businesses, the risk is often higher.
Many buyers assume that because the business is “online,” it is simpler and cleaner than a traditional brick-and-mortar business.
This single assumption often leads to shortcuts and poor decisions.
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Common Mistake 1: You Rely On Seller’s Story Instead of Verifying Facts
Business sellers often pitch their business using a strong narrative: booming traffic, future potential, growing demand, and easy profits.
For a buyer, this story is seductive. But the truth is, this story isn’t enough. You need proof.
A common failure point for 99% of acquisitions is conducting sloppy due diligence.
In our 7+ years of experience in the e-commerce M&A field, we have seen many buyers repeatedly skip the deep checks.
They are quick to trust the seller-provided data on traffic, sales, expenses, and profits.
In fact, hidden liabilities or problems in the financials show up in over 40% of small-business acquisitions.
Here’s the Bottom Line:
If you skip proper validation, you may end up buying debt, inflated numbers, or a business model that no longer works.
Common Mistake 2: You Overvalue What “Could Be” Instead of What “Is”
When you see growth potential in a business for sale, you may be easily tempted to pay for what the business could become.
This line of thinking often leads to overpaying or even overestimating future earnings.
Many failed acquisitions trace back to valuation mistakes.
Buyers estimate big gains from synergies, traffic growth, and market expansion. Yet these assumptions rarely materialize.
If you pay too much upfront, even a moderately performing business can end up underwhelming.
You should value the business based on past and present performance, not dreams.
Common Mistake 3: You Underestimate the Time and Work Required Post-Purchase
A good number of the acquisition entrepreneurs we work with at Trend Hijacking often come with the belief that online businesses are simply “passive income machines.”
They imagine buying an e-commerce business and waking up to a stream of cash.
But in reality, running or scaling an online business often needs work.
Buyers often ignore operational tasks, ongoing marketing, customer service, inventory management, and tech upkeep.
This underestimation wastes your time and money. And the result is that your business underperforms or fails.
Common Mistake 4: You Do Not Plan for Post-Purchase Issues
Even if the purchase price seems fair, many deals collapse later due to legal, tax, compliance, or integration issues.
These problems often lie hidden during initial review.
In case of e-commerce businesses' acquisitions, common problems may include unresolved supplier contracts, hidden debts, unrecorded returns, or irregular accounting practices.
Without a plan for post-purchase management and risk mitigation, you expose yourself (and your new investment) to surprises that drain time and value.
We Help You Buy / Build, Manage and Scale E-commerce Brands for an EXIT
E-commerce Simplified for Busy Individuals – We handle the buying, building, and scaling, so you can focus on what matters.
Growth-Focused Strategies – From sourcing to marketing, we drive growth and prepare you for a profitable exit.
Expertly Managed Exits – We build a high-value brand designed for a Lucrative exit.
Common Mistake 5: You Focus on ‘Too Big’ Without Fit or Strategy
Some buyers chase large or fast-growing online businesses because they seem attractive.
But size alone does not always guarantee you success. Often, larger targets come with more complexity… and more risk.
Research shows that deals involving targets that are much larger relative to the buyer carry higher risks of failure. (Source).
If you take on a business that you cannot fully understand or manage, you may end up spinning your wheels rather than building real value.
How to Avoid Wasting Time In Online Business Acquisitions (What You Should Do):
Now that we have discussed how you’re likely to waste on wrong deals, let’s discuss practical steps to help you avoid common traps:
Demand full documentation: This should include traffic data, income and expense records, tax filings, supplier and customer contracts, and platform analytics. Do not accept claims without proof.
Value conservatively: Base your valuation on verified past performance, not just optimistic predictions or vague “potential.”
Estimate the workload: List all the tasks required to run the business —ranging from marketing and inventory to customer support, tech maintenance, and compliance. Ensure that you have the capacity or team to manage.
Use proper due diligence: Take your time to conduct a detailed financial audit, legal and tax review, compliance check, and debt and liability screening. Treat this as non-negotiable.
Avoid chasing size: We strongly advise you to only choose targets you can control and understand, rather than going after large but risky acquisitions.
Conclusion
Buying an online business without verifying facts, underestimating work, and overvaluing dreams will likely lead to disappointment.
If you keep chasing deals based on hype, vague promises, or size alone, you will end up wasting your valuable time.
The truth is, many acquisitions fail to deliver. But this doesn’t mean you should avoid buying online businesses. It means you need to tread carefully.
Treat every deal like a project: verify everything, value realistically, plan for operations, and only commit when you are confident.
Do this, and you will improve your odds of picking a deal that actually works.
Acquire An Online Business With Trend Hijacking
If you're considering buying an established online store, you should have more than surface-level numbers guiding your decision.
Our acquisition team helps you source credible listings, verify performance, complete valuation work, and negotiate with clarity.
You stay fully in control while we safeguard the process and remove avoidable risks.
If you're ready to go through a structured and transparent path into ownership, check out our Smart Acquisition services today for more details.
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