Pre-sale preparation is the work a business owner does in the 6 to 12 months before going to market to make the company withstand buyer due diligence and command a premium price. It is distinct from exit planning (which is mostly about the owner's personal, tax, and estate readiness) and from brokerage (which is the marketing and sale of the business as it currently exists). Preparation changes what a buyer finds; brokerage changes who finds it.
What pre-sale preparation includes
Serious preparation addresses five areas, the same five issues that kill deals or compress valuations: (1) learning how buyers actually evaluate, structure, and price businesses, so the owner can negotiate as an equal; (2) articulating a defensible strategy, what the business does that competitors can't easily replicate; (3) removing owner dependence by mapping and transferring the roles, relationships, and responsibilities that live in the owner's head; (4) aligning the financials with the story so they survive a Quality of Earnings analysis; and (5) packaging the evidence into a Confidential Information Memorandum that creates a competitive process.
Who does this work
Options range from self-guided courses to CPA-led financial cleanups to advisory engagements. The distinction that matters most is economics: many "exit prep" providers earn more when you transact through them, whether through a success fee, an offer to buy your company, or management of your sale proceeds. Preparation advice is only as honest as its incentives. The cleanest structure is an advisor paid solely to make you ready, who then hands you to independent sell-side professionals.
When to start
The practical window is 6 to 18 months before you want to go to market. Less than roughly 3 months is usually too late for the full work. Longer runways aren't a problem. They're leverage: more time to fix what diligence would otherwise find. The owners who regret their exits almost always say the same thing afterward: "I wish I had started two years earlier."