Find the gaps before the process finds them.

What is inside

For owners considering a future sale, whether the date is close or still taking shape.

Use this workbook privately with your management and professional advisors. Mark each item as supported, needs work, or unknown. Record the evidence and the person who can help. This is a preparation tool, not a valuation, sale-readiness certification, or prediction of buyer interest.

1. The owner’s decision

   Separate a decision to explore from authority to market the company. Document what you want the transition to accomplish before choosing a process.

2. Financial evidence

   The first test is whether the story can be traced to records and refreshed consistently. An unexplained difference belongs on an issue list, not under a favorable assumption.

3. Transferable operations

   Identify the work that follows the owner home. A new title is not proof that another person can perform a responsibility or sustain a relationship.

4. A credible business story

   A buyer presentation should explain the operating reality. Keep historical evidence, current opportunities, and future ambitions visibly distinct.

5. Confidentiality and process capacity

   A sale requires management time while the business continues operating. Plan access and responsibility before requests begin to arrive.

6. Your next-action register

   Choose a small set of consequential actions. This workbook deliberately has no total score: an unresolved ownership or accounting issue cannot be offset by checking unrelated boxes.

Make it your working document.

The PDF includes space to record evidence and priorities. An accessible online version accompanies the download. Complete it privately, then decide which questions you want to bring to your advisors.