Exit readiness is five different jobs, and very few owners need all of them at full depth. Pick by asking two questions: how far away is the exit, and what would a buyer find hardest to believe about your business today? The answers point to the right starting service. If you can't answer the second question yet, start with the assessment.
Every service is business consulting. We do not value companies, act as a broker, or give legal, tax or securities advice. We organize, document and improve the business so that your accountant, lawyer and any valuator or adviser you hire can work from solid ground.
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Exit readiness assessment
A scored, written view of how your business would look to a careful buyer today, and what to fix first.
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Valuation readiness
Clean, explainable numbers and a documented add-back schedule, ready for your accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator.
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Owner-independence plan
Move customers, decisions and know-how off the owner so the business keeps running after you leave.
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Succession route planning
Compare a family transfer, management buyout, employee ownership or outside sale against your goals and timeline.
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Deal preparation and structuring support
A data room, a clear story for buyers, and plain-language help reading offers alongside your lawyer and accountant.
Exit readiness assessment
Start here if you don't know where your biggest gaps are. It is a structured, written review of your records, numbers, people, customers and route, scored area by area, with a ranked list of fixes.
It suits owners one to five years from an exit and owners who just received an unsolicited approach and want to know whether they're ready to take it seriously. Details are on the exit readiness assessment page.
Valuation readiness
Choose this when your numbers are the weak point. A buyer prices what they can verify, so the job is to make earnings traceable: reconciled statements, a documented add-back schedule, and clear separation between personal and business spending.
It is not a valuation. It prepares the material your accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator would need. See valuation readiness and the companion guide to normalized earnings.
Owner-independence plan
Choose this when the business still runs through you. If you hold the key customer relationships, approve every quote and are the only one who knows how the pricing works, a buyer sees a job, not a company.
The plan moves relationships, decisions and know-how onto people and documented systems, on a timeline that a buyer can see in the results. It usually takes the longest of the five, so owners with a long runway benefit most. Read more on the owner-independence page.
Succession route planning
Choose this when you haven't decided who the buyer should be. Selling to an outside company, handing over to a family member, selling to your managers, and selling to employees through a trust each come with different timelines, financing and preparation needs.
We lay the routes side by side against your goals, then coordinate with your lawyer and accountant on the legal and tax side. See succession route planning.
Deal preparation and structuring support
Choose this when a transaction is close: an offer, a letter of intent, or a buyer asking for documents. We build the data room, prepare the business story, and help you understand the terms in front of you (earn-outs, vendor take-back notes, holdbacks, working-capital targets) so that your conversations with your lawyer are faster and better informed.
Details are on the deal preparation page, and the data room checklist is a free starting point.
A simple way to decide
| Your situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| Three or more years out, unsure of gaps | Assessment, then owner independence |
| One to two years out, books are messy | Valuation readiness |
| Family or managers are the likely buyers | Succession route planning |
| An offer or letter of intent is on the table | Deal preparation |
| Just curious what a buyer would think | Assessment |
What every engagement has in common
Whatever you choose, the work is written down. You get a gap list or plan you can share with your professional team, a named owner for each action, and dates. We prefer short, focused engagements over open-ended ones, and nothing locks you in.
Fees follow the group's consulting rates on the pricing page. To talk through which service fits, call, text or email.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need all five services?
Rarely. Most owners start with the assessment and then take on the one or two areas where the gap is widest. An owner three years out often needs owner independence; an owner with an offer on the table needs deal preparation now.
Can I skip the assessment?
You can, if you already know your weak spot and want to work on it directly. The risk is fixing something visible while a bigger problem, such as an unassignable lease or a missing shareholder agreement, waits for the buyer's lawyer to find it.
Are these services available outside British Columbia?
Yes. Sellers in every province and territory can consult with us in person or by video call, or by phone, text and email. Provincial differences that affect a sale are covered on our regional pages.
Do any of these services include finding a buyer?
No. We do not market businesses for sale, find buyers or negotiate on your behalf. If you want transaction representation, hire a broker or M&A adviser, and we will help you prepare for them.