Self-Assessment
Buyers discount owner-dependent businesses, hard. This free audit finds where yours ties you in, while you still have time to loosen the knot.
What would happen if you were incapacitated for 30 days? Would your business thrive without you, or would it grind to a halt? A vendor invoice needs sign-off. A lease renewal requires an authorized signature. A key customer sends a contract amendment that needs a response. A bank transaction exceeds the threshold that requires two signatures. A dispute lands that needs legal instruction.
Who handles it? More precisely, who is legally permitted to handle it? And if no one is, what breaks while it waits?
Answer the ten questions below honestly. Each unchecked item is a place where the business currently depends on you personally, and where a buyer, or a 30-day absence, would find friction.
Answer honestly. Each unchecked item is a place where the business currently depends on you personally, and where a buyer, or a 30-day absence, would find friction.
If you felt even a moment of uncertainty answering these questions, that uncertainty is the answer. Most founders who think carefully about this realize they are more deeply embedded in the legal mechanics of their business than they assumed. That is not a character flaw, it is the natural result of building a business where speed mattered more than process. But the time to fix it is before the 30 days happen, not during.
A corporate readiness review starts with a conversation. Reach out to talk through where your business stands and what makes sense to address.
Schedule a Consultation →What is owner dependence risk in a business sale?
Owner dependence risk is the degree to which a business relies on its owner personally to keep operating: signing authority, key customer relationships, institutional knowledge, and decision-making power. Buyers price this risk directly. A business that visibly depends on one person is worth less, and is harder to finance, than one that can run without them in the room.
How do buyers actually test for owner dependence during diligence?
Buyers and their counsel look at signing authority on contracts and bank accounts, customer concentration tied to personal relationships rather than the business, change of control clauses in major agreements, and whether key knowledge is documented or lives only with the owner. They will also ask directly what happens if the owner is unavailable for an extended period.
Can owner dependence gaps actually be fixed, or do they take years?
Most gaps are fixable in weeks, not years. Updating a banking mandate, documenting delegation of signing authority, and refreshing a shareholder agreement are all matters of paperwork and process once someone identifies what needs to change. The harder part is usually recognizing the gaps exist in the first place, which is what this audit is for.
Is this only relevant if I'm planning to sell my business?
No. The same gaps that concern a buyer in due diligence are the gaps that cause real operational problems if you're unexpectedly unavailable, whether from illness, a family emergency, or simply being consumed by a deal process. Fixing owner dependence protects the business whether or not a sale is on the horizon.
Important: This is a self-scoring audit intended to give general guidance, not legal advice. It reflects general information current to July 20, 2026, and it is not legal, tax, accounting, insurance, or investment advice. It doesn't replace advice about your specific situation, and completing it doesn't create a lawyer-client relationship. Laws, government rules, and tax rates can change, and how they apply depends heavily on the facts. Talk to a qualified Ontario lawyer and tax professional before making ownership, succession, or key-person planning decisions for your business.