Before you prepare a business for sale, decide who the buyer is likely to be. A strategic acquirer, a private investor, your daughter and your operations manager look for different things, pay in different ways and need different lead times. Route planning lays the realistic options side by side, tests them against your goals and timeline, and turns the chosen route (plus a back-up) into a preparation plan.
We do the business analysis. Legal structure, tax treatment and family arrangements belong with your lawyer and accountant, whom you can find through your provincial law society via the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and your provincial accounting body.
The four routes
1. Sale to an outside buyer
This means a competitor, a larger company in your sector, or a private investor. It is often the route with the widest field of buyers, and the most scrutiny.
- What they look for: verifiable earnings, low owner dependence, customer diversity, clean records.
- How they pay: often cash at closing plus some combination of earn-out, holdback or a vendor note.
- Preparation lead time: typically two to three years to be fully ready.
2. Transfer to family
A child, sibling or other relative takes over. This route can preserve the company's culture and your legacy, but it adds a family layer to every business decision.
- What matters most: whether the successor genuinely wants the job and has proven they can do it, and fairness to family members who are not taking over.
- How it's paid: anywhere from a full market sale to a gradual transfer; the structure is a legal and tax decision.
- Preparation lead time: often the longest, because the successor needs years of real responsibility first.
3. Management buyout
Your existing managers buy the business. They already know it, which shortens the learning curve and reassures customers and staff.
- What matters most: whether they can finance it, and whether they can run the parts you currently do.
- How it's paid: commonly a blend of lending, the managers' own money and a seller note over several years, which means you stay financially exposed after closing.
- Preparation lead time: two to four years, much of it building the managers' authority.
4. Sale to employees through a trust
A trust holds shares on behalf of the employees as a group. It can suit companies with a stable, profitable base and a team that would rather own the business than see it sold to an outsider.
- What matters most: steady cash flow to pay you out over time, sound governance, and a team ready to share in ownership.
- Preparation lead time: similar to a management buyout. The current legal and tax rules are a matter for your lawyer and accountant.
How we compare the routes
We score each route against what you tell us matters, on a simple grid:
| Factor | Questions we ask |
|---|---|
| Money | How much do you need at closing, and how much can wait? |
| Timing | When do you want to be fully out? |
| Certainty | How much risk can you carry after closing, through a note or earn-out? |
| People | How important is keeping the team and the culture? |
| Readiness | Does the business, and the successor, meet the route's needs today? |
| Family | Who else has a stake in the outcome? |
The result is a primary route, a back-up route, and the reasons for both, written down so your lawyer and accountant can design the structure around them.
What's included
- Goal-setting session with you (and your spouse or partners, if they have a stake).
- A readiness check of likely internal successors: experience, authority, appetite and financing.
- A side-by-side route comparison with the grid above.
- A preparation plan for the chosen route, folded into your wider readiness work.
- A list of questions for your lawyer, accountant and, where useful, a Chartered Business Valuator, especially on fair value between family members.
How results are measured
- A chosen route and a back-up, agreed by everyone with a stake.
- A successor-readiness score that improves over the preparation period.
- Advisers engaged and the structuring questions answered, on schedule.
- For internal routes: the successor running real parts of the business, with results tracked.
Mistakes to avoid
- Assuming a child wants the business. Ask directly, early, and listen to the answer.
- Keeping managers in the dark. If they are your likely buyers, they need time to plan and save. If they aren't, they need reassurance before rumours start.
- Choosing a route by tax result alone. Tax matters, but a well-structured deal with an unready successor still fails.
- Having no back-up. Successors change their minds, and outside buyers walk away. Prepare the business so either route works.
Where to go next
Route planning usually follows the exit readiness assessment, and internal routes depend heavily on the owner-independence plan. For timing, see the three-year exit runway guide. To talk it through, call, text or email.
Frequently asked questions
Which route usually gets the highest price?
There is no reliable rule, and we never promise a price on any route. Outside buyers can sometimes pay more because they expect savings from combining businesses, but family and management routes can win on certainty, timing and keeping the team together. The right comparison weighs price, certainty, timing and what you care about beyond money.
Can my managers afford to buy the business?
Often not with their own cash alone. Management buyouts in Canada are commonly financed with a mix of bank or other lending, the managers' own money, and a note from the seller paid over time. Your accountant and lender can test what is realistic for your numbers.
Is selling to my children a sale or a gift?
It can be either, or a mix, and the tax and legal consequences differ a great deal. That is a question for your accountant and lawyer early in the process. We help you get clear on the business side: whether the successor is ready, and how the handover will work.
What is an employee ownership trust?
It is a trust that holds shares of the company on behalf of its employees, one way to sell to your staff as a group. Whether it suits your company, and the current rules, are questions for your lawyer and accountant. We help you judge whether the business and team are ready for it.
Sources
- Federation of Law Societies of Canada (2026-10-23)
- CBV Institute (2026-10-23)