Preparation is essential for a lot of businesses in order to remove obstacles or to optimise the company’s value. Whatever the size of the company, a good representation will make an excellent return on your investment.
The principal points to tackle in order to best prepare such an operation, are below.

The head of the company must produce a personal report examining:

Their motivations
Their assets
Their financial constraints
Their personal projects after the transfer

Examining the different options:

Transfer to a family member?
Sale to a member of the workforce?
Sale to a third party?
Could you consider a sale to a known third party (client, developer, partner...)?
If the third party is unknown, could it be an individual or a corporate body?

Preparing the company:

How does your market change and what is your strategy to exploit these changes?
Is there development potential?
Does it have a high-performance operational capacity?
Does it have a capacity for debt?
Is the legal structure optimised?
Who does the property belong to?

Optimising presentation

Without going to the extent of ‘window dressing’, it is necessary to present the company as well as possible by ruling out all problems beforehand which could constitute an obstacle to a sale or a succession.

Does a business plan for several years exist?
Do the accounts for the last three years show a favourable evolution?
Can you explain any pauses in increase of profits?
Are the shareholders’ current accounts paid off?
How will your biggest client react?
Does the head of the company still have legal guarantees?
Are the executives in favour of a restricted solution?
Is there a risk that former cases will reappear after the operation?
Will the decisions taken to pay less tax make buyers think that your company isn't profitable enough?
Do tax claims exist?
When was the last tax and social check?
Do members of your family, who are employed in the business, have roles and salaries that correspond to the reality of the market?