Goodwill

The part of a business's price above the value of its tangible assets: reputation, customer habits, brand, and the expectation that profits continue.

When a business sells for more than its equipment and stock are worth, the excess is goodwill: the buyer is paying for customers who keep coming, a name people trust, and the machine that produces profit rather than the metal it runs on.

Goodwill is real value and fragile value. It only transfers if the things generating it transfer: if the reputation is really the OWNER'S reputation, the goodwill walks out at handover, which is the valuation face of owner dependence. Reviews attached to the business, a brand that is legally owned, documented service standards, and customer relationships held by the business rather than a person are what turn reputation into an asset a buyer will pay for.