What happens if a licence is tied to me personally and can't be transferred to any buyer at all?

Some licences are issued specifically to an individual based on personal qualifications, certification, or a background check — a professional designation or a personally held permit, for example — and these generally cannot be transferred to a buyer under any circumstances, regardless of how the rest of the business sale is structured. Your buyer would need to independently qualify for and obtain their own version of that licence, or, if they can't or won't, the business's ability to operate the licensed activity may not survive the sale at all in its current form.

This can significantly affect what you're actually able to sell. If a personally held licence is central to the business's operations and your buyer doesn't hold the same qualifications, the deal may need to be restructured — perhaps around only the transferable parts of the business, or with you remaining involved in some limited capacity until the buyer qualifies independently, if the licensing regime allows that kind of transition at all.

Because this can be the single biggest constraint on your sale, identify any personally held licences early and think through what your buyer realistically needs to replace them. A Treadstone business lawyer can help assess your options.