In brief: Preparation should make the business easier to verify, easier to operate without the owner and easier to transfer.
Clean the financial story
Reconcile revenue and expenses to source records, document owner-specific adjustments conservatively and make month-to-month trends easy to follow.
Reduce owner dependence
Document recurring tasks, delegate where practical and make sure passwords, workflows, supplier contacts and operational knowledge are not trapped in the founder's head.
Organize diligence evidence
- Financial statements and source records
- Analytics or customer metrics
- Contracts and supplier terms
- IP and ownership records
- Operating procedures
- Asset and account inventory
Fix transfer problems early
Identify accounts that cannot transfer, contracts needing consent, licenses tied to an individual, unsupported code or undocumented infrastructure before a buyer discovers them.
Choose timing deliberately
Do not wait for a problem to force an exit. A stable or improving business with organized records usually gives the seller more options than a rushed sale.