Preparing the sale two years ahead: the timeline

If you want to prepare to sell your business properly, plan on about two years: one year to get it running without you, six months to document everything and build the data room, then the time it takes to sell. Here's the timeline, quarter by quarter, connecting the eight steps in the order they raise the value.

Why two years, not six months

A buyer pays for what will remain after you leave. And some proof can't be improvised. It takes time for a large client's trust to move to your sales director. It takes time for the financial statements to show clean results, with no personal expenses to explain. It takes time for the team to make decisions on its own and for that to show in the numbers.

You're not the only one thinking about it. About 38,000 Quebec businesses could change hands between 2026 and the end of 2028, and nearly six in ten owner-managers have no transfer plan, according to the Étude nationale du repreneuriat et des transferts d'entreprise (3rd edition, August 2026). A business that's ready stands out in that context.

Two years is also short enough to stay on course. Beyond that, the project gets lost in day-to-day emergencies.

The timeline, quarter by quarter

Months 1 to 3: see clearly

• Step 1: map your processes. Write down everything you do for a week, group it into processes, mark in red what goes through you.
• Step 2: find the bottlenecks. Take the two-week test and draw up your dependency matrix.
• First meeting with your accountant and your tax advisor. Some tax decisions have to be made well before the sale to take effect. For example, the capital gains exemption on a share sale requires the company to meet certain conditions for a period before the sale: if it holds investments or a building that isn't used in operations, these sometimes have to be moved out well in advance. Your tax advisor will tell you whether that applies to you, and how much lead time you need.

Months 4 to 6: decide who does what

• Finish step 2: a prioritized list of dependencies, from most costly to simplest.
• Step 3: fund your automation. For each project on that list, find the programs that could help and file the applications before the first purchases: several programs refuse expenses made before you apply.
• Start step 4: build systems. Written delegation rules, spending limits, clear roles.
• Choose the key employees to train and retain.

Months 7 to 9: run without you

• Step 4 in full swing: automating repetitive tasks, tools installed on site.
• Your large clients meet their new contact. You're still there, but in the background.
• You take personal expenses out of the business, so the next financial statements are clean.

Months 10 to 12: test it for real

• Take two real weeks off. Note what got stuck and fix it.
• Start step 5: document everything. Short procedures, written by the people who do the work, and your know-how captured.

Months 13 to 15: write the operating manual

• Finish step 5: org chart, procedures, employee handbook.
• Step 6: the Transition Document. Processes, key clients, team, risks and the successor's first-100-days plan.
• Verbal agreements get put in writing, as explained in putting your agreements in writing.

Months 16 to 18: build the data room

• Step 7: the data room, with the Transition Document at its center.
• Normalized EBITDA calculated over three years, every adjustment documented.
• A dry-run review by your advisors: gaps get fixed before a buyer finds them.

Months 19 to 21: go to market

• Step 8: sell at the right price. Establishing the value, preparing the presentation file, approaching several buyers in parallel.
• Negotiating the letter of intent: the price, but also the structure.

Months 22 to 24: verify and close

• Due diligence: the room opens in levels, one person answers the questions.
• Purchase agreement, reviewed by your lawyer and your tax advisor.
• If all goes well, closing and the start of the 100-day plan. The real pace depends on the buyer and the deal: this timeline is a goal, not a promise.

What can be sped up, and what can't

Some work compresses well with help: mapping, documentation, the data room. It's mostly hours of work, and it can be done by people other than you.

Other work doesn't compress, whatever the budget:

• Client trust. A property manager who has called you for 15 years needs several months with a new contact before they stop asking for you.
• Financial history. A buyer looks at several years. One clean year right before the sale weighs less than three.
• Proof that the team decides on its own. It shows over time, not in a procedure.

That's why the timeline starts with the slow work and leaves the fast work for the second year. If you have less than 24 months, keep the same order and tighten the quick steps.

What these 24 months look like in practice

To make the timeline concrete, follow an invented company: a construction equipment rental business in Quebec City, with branches in Lévis and Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures. Twelve million dollars in sales, 60 employees. The founder is 59 and wants to have sold by 62.

In the first year, she finds that she personally approves every rental longer than a month and that she's the only one who talks to the three largest general contractors. She appoints an operations director, sets approval thresholds for each branch and introduces her sales reps to clients, job site by job site. In month 11, she leaves for three weeks: a single request waits for her return.

In the second year, the mechanics document fleet maintenance, her accountant normalizes the EBITDA and her lawyer puts in writing the long-term rental agreements that had been rolling over tacitly. When she meets buyers, she no longer has to explain how the business will run without her: the Transition Document shows it.

Your plan for this month

1. Put a target sale date in your calendar, even a rough one.
2. Count back 24 months. If the start date has already passed, don't change the order of the steps: start with the slow work.
3. Block two half-days a month for this project, and name one person on your team to track the timeline with you.
4. Book a meeting with your accountant and your tax advisor, with three written questions: which tax decisions need to be made now? which expenses should come out of the business this year? share sale or asset sale, what changes for me?
5. This week, do the two-week test on paper: list what would get stuck if you left on Monday. That list is the content of your months 1 to 12.

Do it with a pro

Alone, this timeline almost always slips: emergencies come before the project, and two years become five. With us and our regional partner, each quarter has its deliverables, the work is done on site with your team, and you keep your mind on operations. See how it works.

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