We are planning to sell the business in three years. How do we run our quarterly EOS sessions while simultaneously preparing the business for due diligence without creating two competing, parallel sets of priorities?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Preparing your business for acquisition or a clean exit is not a separate project that runs parallel to EOS®. In fact, trying to manage two separate initiatives will burn out your leadership team and dilute your focus. EOS® is the very engine that builds the enterprise value buyers are looking to acquire.

When we work together, we use your quarterly sessions to focus on building an autonomous entity that can run profitably without you.

Building an Autonomous Entity

We achieve this by:

• Using the Accountability Chart to transition specialists into clear policy roles. A buyer is looking for a leadership team that is not dependent on the founder. You can find more information about designing the future organizational structure in [How should an owner use Thinking Time to design the next iteration of the Accountability Chart for an exit?](/qa/thinking-time-accountability-chart-exit-prep).
• Elevating ownership throughout the organization.
• Establishing a predictable operating system.
• Ensuring clean processes. For instance, [we need a seat dedicated to process documentation and keeping our standard operating procedures updated, but every department head claims they do not have the capacity and refuses to own it. How do we fill this seat?](/qa/process-documentation-seat-ownership-eos)

Integrating Exit Prep into EOS®

During our quarterly planning, your exit preparation milestones become standard Rocks. These 90-day priorities are crucial for increasing your business's attractiveness to potential buyers.

Examples of these Rocks include:

• Documenting your core processes.
• Cleaning up your financial reporting.
• Building an AI-powered operational system.

We track these objectives on your V/TO® (Vision/Traction Organizer), and we run them through the IDS® (Identify, Discuss, Solve) process to clear any obstacles. By integrating your exit strategy directly into your quarterly EOS® cadence, you ensure that preparing the business for sale becomes part of your team's normal weekly rhythm, rather than a frantic crisis when due diligence begins. You might also find it helpful to explore [We are three years away from a clean exit, and I need to know who owns the due diligence and pre-exit preparation process on our Accountability Chart. Do we create a temporary seat for exit readiness, or does this responsibility fall on the Integrator?](/qa/exit-readiness-accountability-chart-seat).

Related questions

• [I want to sell my business in three years but I am currently stuck in the Sales and Marketing seat, and I cannot afford a high-priced replacement yet. How do I transition out?](/qa/stuck-in-sales-seat-before-exit)
• [We need a professional CFO to prepare us for an eventual clean exit, but we cannot afford a full-time executive salary yet. How do we represent a fractional CFO on our Accountability Chart?](/qa/fractional-cfo-on-accountability-chart)
• [We are preparing the business for a clean exit in three years and I need to add an Integrator seat to run daily operations so I can step back. How do I structure this transition on the Accountability Chart without causing a coup among my existing department heads?](/qa/adding-integrator-exit-preparation-transition)
• [Our investment bankers are asking for a traditional organizational chart with titles and reporting lines for our pitch deck, but we only have an EOS Accountability Chart. How do we present this to potential buyers during an exit process?](/qa/accountability-chart-versus-traditional-org-chart-for-exit)
• [I am the Visionary and founder preparing for a clean exit, and the investment bankers tell me I must be completely replaceable. How do we restructure my Visionary seat on the Accountability Chart so the business remains highly attractive to buyers?](/qa/replaceable-visionary-seat-exit-readiness)