Remote Business Buying Reality Check

Ramzi Daklouche

Alright, welcome back to Transitions with Ramzi and Claudia. I'm Ramzi—still coming at you from Atlanta, although maybe today's episode will change that? Claudia, you ready for the remote revolution?

Claudia Luquerna

Always! Hi everyone, I'm Claudia. You know, Ramzi, "remote" has become such a buzzword lately. We’re hearing more and more from buyers who think they want a totally remote business, right? The dream is: you’re working in your pajamas in Bali, business just humming along in the background.

Ramzi Daklouche

Yeah, or the old “I wanna run my company from a hammock in Costa Rica” pitch. Look, I get it. Who doesn’t want that? Especially compared to sitting in Atlanta traffic! But the reality when buying is... it’s messier than people realize.

Claudia Luquerna

Absolutely. So first: what do buyers mean by “completely remote”? People usually point to things like SaaS businesses, digital marketing agencies, dropshipping stores. Sometimes even YouTube channels or online course companies—basically, businesses you can run with a laptop and Wi-Fi.

Ramzi Daklouche

Exactly. And on paper, these look amazing. All the revenue online, teams scattered across the globe, no warehouses or storefronts to worry about. But here’s the twist—most of these so-called ‘remote’ businesses… still have plenty of location-based elements. There's no such thing as “zero presence.”

Claudia Luquerna

Yeah, like, people picture this hands-off gig, but the reality demands involvement. Even with dropshipping or SaaS, you need systems, oversight, sometimes actual in-person stuff. The dream sometimes gets interrupted by… reality.

Ramzi Daklouche

Let me give you a real-world example—I'm not making this up. A buyer of mine was convinced he’d bought a 100% remote digital marketing agency. Whole team was remote, clients all over, no office, no physical assets at all. He’s already planning his Zoom-from-the-beach life. But then—here’s what he found: Sixty percent of their revenue depended on three major clients who expected quarterly, face-to-face strategy sessions. For five years, the owner was literally flying all over the country every three months. That shocked our buyer. He thought remote meant never leaving home, but suddenly he’s traveling more than before.

Claudia Luquerna

That happens so often. And it’s not just travel—sometimes the business heavily relies on the previous owner’s personal relationships or presence. The stuff that doesn’t show up in a financial statement or a fancy slide deck. Buying a business isn’t just pushing buttons from afar, unfortunately.

Ramzi Daklouche

Yeah, and building on what we talked about last episode—there’s always a reality check that comes after the LOI, right? Suddenly those “completely remote” stories start to unravel when you see how things really work day to day.

Claudia Luquerna

So let’s dive into the messy stuff. There are big hidden challenges when it comes to these remote opportunities. Number one? Owner dependence. Sometimes buyers get tricked because the seller IS the business. All the client trust, all the vendor relationships, all the inside knowledge—it’s just the owner in their head. If you can’t extract that or transfer it, you’re buying a headache.

Ramzi Daklouche

Yeah, and let’s not forget third-party tech reliance. A so-called remote company might look passive, but it’s often glued together with five SaaS tools, Zapier, and the hope that none of them breaks at 2am. If one vendor changes their pricing or shuts down, you’ve suddenly got a real problem. I mean, you’re not in control of that backbone in the same way as, say, a brick-and-mortar operation.

Claudia Luquerna

And, oof, the myth of passive income. I see this all the time—people think they’ll just step in and money will pour in while they surf or whatever. But true “passivity” is… well, let’s just say it almost never exists, right Ramzi?

Ramzi Daklouche

Yep, and often those “passive” claims hide a ton of tasks handled by the owner or a trusted VA who’s about to leave when the business changes hands. Let’s talk red flags too—big ones. Lack of documentation, for starters. If everything is in the owner’s head and not on paper, you may as well buy their brain, which last I checked, is not for sale.

Claudia Luquerna

And revenue volatility! I always say: watch out for wild swings—one month up, next month down. True automation and systemization would smooth that out, but if it’s yo-yoing, that means something’s off, or it’s very dependent on the owner pushing the right buttons on the right day.

Ramzi Daklouche

Yeah, another one—the relationships that don’t transfer. Like, if all the key clients love the seller but not the service, or they interact only through a personal social media account that isn’t part of the deal… you might see the revenue walk out the door day one. Claudia, I remember you had one that just totally crumbled because of this, right?

Claudia Luquerna

Oh, yes. This was a content business—on paper, looked amazing. Good margins, real following. But every major client was basically there for the seller’s personal brand. One buyer got so excited, then realized none of the main revenue would stick around after closing. The business fell apart before they even reached the lawyer’s office. It can be brutal. So, if loyalty's tied to the face on the Zoom calls, not the logo, you’re in a risky spot.

Ramzi Daklouche

Yeah, if you want your remote dream to last longer than a plane ticket, you gotta dig for those red flags. Remote is not code for “hands off forever.” It’s just... different hands-on.

Claudia Luquerna

Alright, so it’s not all doom and gloom. There are ways to make a remote acquisition successful, right? The pattern I see: businesses with proper documentation, clear and transferable systems, and independent teams. Every task—customer service, marketing, payroll—has a written process, and someone outside the owner who knows how to handle it.

Ramzi Daklouche

Yeah, and—and if that documentation doesn’t exist, honestly, you probably want to build it before you buy or negotiate hard on price. Another must-have is some backup infrastructure, especially with tech—redundant servers, regular data backups, even alternative vendors for fulfillment if something fails. Contingency planning is huge for remote-first companies.

Claudia Luquerna

And during due diligence, actually test everything. Don’t just watch a demo. Log in to every system—try to break things! See what happens. Also, negotiate a longer training/transition with the seller. Remote can hide surprises—sometimes 30 days isn’t near enough. Get 90, or 120 if you can swing it. Worst case, you’re overshooting; best case, you don’t spend week two frantically Googling how the business actually runs.

Ramzi Daklouche

Plus, look carefully at legal and tax stuff. A remote team in five states, four countries? That’s a compliance headache. You want to understand what filings are needed, payroll rules, data privacy—the whole mess—before you sign. It can eat up a lot of time if you miss it up front.

Claudia Luquerna

There’s one more piece—real-life examples. Ramzi, you’ve seen a buyer really pull this off, haven’t you?

Ramzi Daklouche

Yeah, a subscription box business, actually. It looked “remote” on paper, and for once, it actually was, because the seller set up solid systems with a fulfillment center, documented everything, and trained a team that managed daily ops. The buyer took over, but what really helped was that they leaned into the tech—even improved the software and automated more steps. Instead of hands off, it was hands on systems, which let them scale up without adding to the chaos.

Claudia Luquerna

Love it! That’s what separates the dream from the nightmare: systems, people, redundancy. Basically, remote works if you’re still running a business… just from anywhere with good Wi-Fi—but you still have to run it.

Ramzi Daklouche

So as we wrap up… if you want a remote business, don’t just fall for pretty headlines. Go deep on the systems, the tech, the people, and the actual work needed. Find those cracks now, not after you’re untethered from your old nine-to-five.

Claudia Luquerna

Couldn’t agree more. Let’s not sugarcoat it: remote businesses can give you freedom, but only if you put in the work upfront. And if you run into a weird snag or want a reality check, you know where to find us. That’s why we do this each week!

Ramzi Daklouche

Thanks for listening, everyone. I’m Ramzi, and next episode, we’re digging even deeper on transition strategies for sellers and buyers. Claudia, always a pleasure.

Claudia Luquerna

Always, Ramzi. Good luck wherever you’re listening from—remote or not. We’ll see you next time!