We plan to sell our business in twelve months, and our current Accountability Chart has several hybrid seats where one person handles completely unrelated functions, such as our Director of Operations also running Human Resources. Will prospective buyers see these combined seats as an operational risk, and how should we clean this up before going to market?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Yes, prospective buyers will see hybrid seats as a major operational risk. In professional organizations, combining unrelated functions like Operations and Human Resources under one seat signals that the business is under-resourced and relies too heavily on key individuals. This key-person risk will negatively impact your valuation during a sale.

To prepare for a clean exit, you must decouple these unrelated functions on your Accountability Chart today. Draw the chart exactly as it should look for a mature, independent organization. Create a dedicated seat for Operations and a separate, dedicated seat for HR, each with its own five core roles.

If your current director is holding both, put their name in both boxes. This visually demonstrates that while the functions are separate, one person is currently filling both seats. This transparency allows buyers to see exactly where the business needs to hire next.

Furthermore, you must build a transition plan. Document the processes for the HR seat so that a future buyer can easily hire a replacement or outsource the function without disrupting operations. Showing a buyer a clean, structured chart with a clear plan to backfill dual-hatted roles builds trust and proves that your business is a systemized asset, not a chaotic owner-dependent operation.