Grig Lien
Grig Lien at a café table in the sun, reading on his phone

About

Who I am, how the books are made, and why this site exists.

Some years ago I set out to buy a small business in the country where I live. I soon noticed something about the people around the deal. The seller wanted it closed. So did the broker. So did everyone who was paid when it was signed.

Nobody worked for me.

My search ended differently from how it began. I was offered a part in running an operating company, and I took it. So I’ll be straight with you: I never bought a small business myself. I learned what a buyer needs to know by looking for one, and from what came after.

Since then I have helped friends and acquaintances check businesses before they bought.

Nobody’s job was to find the reason not to buy.

About me

Many years running companies. Today I help run an operating business.

Grig Lien is a pen name.

How the books are made — and who with

These books are not one person at a desk. I make them together with the team at Provenance Diligence, on whose measurements and checking they stand. Provenance Diligence is a team that checks small businesses for people who are about to buy one.

  1. I

    Built from official records

    For each country we start with the official files a buyer can use: registered sales, court decisions, the laws themselves. Where no public record of prices exists, the book says so and shows what can be known instead.

  2. II

    Sources and dates, printed

    Each book names its sources and the day each one was read, so anyone can open the same source and compare.

  3. III

    Facts checked

    Every legal statement is read against the official text. Every figure is checked against its source. When one slips through, it is printed on the Corrections page.

  4. IV

    Corrections, published

    Mistakes are printed in the next edition and listed on this site.

What goes into a book, in what order, and what you should do on Monday morning — that part is mine.

What the books will and won’t do

They will

  • Tell you which documents to ask the seller for, and why each one matters.
  • Show you checks you can make yourself, often for free.
  • Quote the law, and give the day it was read.
  • Tell you what could not be checked.

They won’t

  • Tell you whether to buy a particular business. That depends on the business in front of you.
  • Replace a lawyer or an accountant in your country. They help you know what to ask them.
  • Promise you a price or a profit.
  • Take money from sellers, brokers or lenders. Nobody pays to be in a book.

When we get it wrong

Every book prints its own corrections: what it said, what is right, and where to read it now. We don’t quietly swap a page. A quiet fix would leave you unable to judge whether it changes anything for you.

Found a mistake? Please tell me. If you’re right, it goes into the next edition and onto the Corrections page.

See all corrections

Why this site exists

A printed book can’t update itself. This site does the part a book can’t.

  • The whole series in one place. Every country, every language edition, in one list.
  • Free letters. New court decisions, law changes, fresh prices — with the source and the date. One letter for the countries you follow — every country, if you tick none — when something changes, at most once a month.
  • An open list of corrections. Every mistake found so far, and what to read instead.

Write to me

A question about a book, a country you need, a mistake you found: write to hello@griglien.com. I read every letter myself.