Buying a Business? How to Fix Social Media & Meta Account Ownership Issues

Buying a business is a major milestone, but for many new owners, social media quickly becomes one of the most confusing and stressful parts of the transition.

If you’ve purchased a business and found yourself locked out of Facebook or Instagram, unsure who owns the Meta Business Manager, or overwhelmed by requests for logins, permissions, or two‑factor authentication, you’re not alone. Social media ownership issues are one of the most common – and least anticipated – problems new business owners face after settlement. Especially when we see the business we’re buying have high/successful Follower counts!

At Social Ocean, we regularly support new business owners across Australia – including Redcliffe and the Moreton Bay region – to recover, untangle, and properly secure their social media and Meta business accounts so they can move forward with confidence.

 

Social Media Ownership Problems After Buying a Business

When a business changes hands, its digital assets don’t always transfer cleanly. Especially with social media.

We frequently see situations where:

• Accounts were originally created under a personal Facebook profile
• There is no clear owner listed inside Meta Business Manager
• Access was granted informally to staff, contractors, or agencies
• Two‑factor authentication is tied to someone no longer involved
• Previous owners are slow to respond or unclear about handover
• Multiple logins exist, but none provide full control.

What looks like a “simple login issue” often turns out to be a structural ownership problem that requires careful recovery and verification.

 

Real Examples of Social Media and Meta Account Recovery After Business Sales

Over the past year, Social Ocean has assisted multiple new business owners – each with very different social media access challenges.

In one case, issues stemmed from a combination of simple setup errors and limited communication during the sale. As a result the new owner started renaming existing accounts after rebranding without understanding the importance of naming conventions, created duplicate social accounts by accident and got tangled up with syncing issues between wrong/right accounts and platforms. By mapping the accounts out, and identifying ownership and access of each was integral to the final solutions.

In another, the business had been granted access through multiple pathways over time. Initially though the new owner didn’t understand how Meta permissions, security checks, and two‑factor authentication worked together across multiple email accounts and dashboards. It made the process feel overwhelming and impossible to finalise – so it had been left only partially completed. Another team member had successfully gained Business account ownership, but the owner themselves were lacking overall ownership and access, leaving them vulnerable.

In a third situation, access to the Meta Business account had been left with a junior staff member when the business was sold. This left new owners unable to access and transfer correct ownership at all, which meant they couldn’t properly access to manage or own their own Meta assets. Using a business email login was the only way to log in with the lowest editing access option and they were left with complete inability to schedule anything.

And another business, the accounts had been hacked.

Each scenario required a tailored approach — but all shared one thing in common: the new owners had inherited systems that were never designed for clean ownership transfer. And over the years, the variety of problems we’ve assisted with is even more vast.

 

Why Proper Social Media and Meta Account Ownership Matters for New Owners

Your social media accounts are not just marketing tools, they’re business assets.

Without proper ownership and control, your business may be exposed to:

• Loss of access to Facebook or Instagram Pages
• Inability to run or manage paid advertising
• Delays in responding to customers
• Reputational risk if disputes arise
• Ongoing frustration and wasted time.

Ensuring your Meta Business Manager and social media accounts are correctly owned, secured and documented protects your business now and makes future growth, staffing and succession far easier.

 

How Social Ocean Can Help

Based in Moreton Bay, Queensland and supporting clients across Australia, Social Ocean specialises in supporting new business owners through social media and Meta account recovery by:

• Working with you to audit existing account structures and access levels
• Identifying missing ownership, permissions or access issues
• Guiding recovery and verification processes
• Assisting with handovers involving previous owners or staff
• Rebuilding a clean, compliant Meta Business setup for the future.

We translate complex systems into plain English and provide calm, practical support at a time when business owners are already juggling a lot.

 

Bought a Business and Unsure Who Owns the Social Media Accounts?

If you’ve recently purchased a business – or are in the middle of a transition – now is the time to make sure your social media and Meta accounts are properly set up and fully under your control.

If you’re in the middle of a transition, our advice is to complete handovers prior to the end of communication with the Seller, in the presence of the Seller or their representative. It’s not good enough to trust the Seller when they say, “Yes – it’ll be done for you, no problem”, because business owners aren’t necessarily equipped with the skills to know how to help complete the process.

Social Ocean supports new business owners across Australia, including Queensland and the City of Moreton Bay, to transition access, secure ownership of the Meta accounts and move forward with confidence.

Get in touch with Social Ocean today to discuss social media and Meta Business account access support.