The short answer
If you have no family member or partner to take over, your options are to sell to an outside buyer, sell to your management team or employees (including through an Employee Ownership Trust), transfer to family on a longer timeline, or wind the business down. For an established, profitable business, a sale to an outside buyer usually gives you the most cash at closing and keeps the business, and its jobs, intact.
What are your exit options?
1. Sell to a third-party buyer
Selling to an outside buyer, whether a competitor, a private equity firm, an individual buyer or an operating acquisition firm, usually gets you the most cash at closing and the cleanest exit. The decision that matters is which buyer. Some will fold your business into theirs; others, like Altigo, buy to keep running it as it is, with the same team and name.
2. Sell to your management team or employees
A management buyout (MBO) keeps the business in familiar hands. Financing is the main hurdle: managers typically need bank debt plus significant seller financing, which leaves you exposed to how the business performs after you leave. Canada introduced Employee Ownership Trusts in 2024, allowing a sale to employees as a group; they are new and fairly complex, so get specialist advice.
3. Transfer to a family member
Works when a son, daughter or other relative genuinely wants to run the business and has the ability to. The challenges are financing (the next generation rarely has the cash, so you're often paid over many years from the business's own profits) and fairness between children who are in the business and those who aren't. Recent tax changes have made some family transfers more efficient than they used to be, but the requirements are detailed; use an accountant who has done them.
4. Wind down or liquidate
Closing the business and selling equipment and inventory is sometimes the only option for very small or unprofitable businesses. For an established, profitable company it is almost always the least valuable route: the goodwill you've built disappears, and so do the jobs.
How the options compare
| Option | Cash at closing | Speed | Continuity for your team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third-party sale | Usually highest | 6–12 months typical | Depends on the buyer |
| Management / employee buyout | Low to moderate; seller financing common | Moderate | High |
| Family transfer | Usually low; paid over time | Slow, often years | High |
| Wind-down | Asset value only | Fast | None |
Signs it's time to start planning
- You're within five to ten years of when you'd like to step back.
- Nobody in the business could run it if you were away for three months.
- Most of your net worth is tied up in the company.
- Your energy for growing the business is fading, or results have plateaued.
- Your spouse, children or partners don't know what your plan is.
A three-year succession plan
- Three years out: decide what you want from an exit. Get tax advice on structure, the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption and, if relevant, a family trust. Start building a management layer.
- Two years out: clean up the financials and stop running personal costs through the business. Reduce dependence on your largest customers. Document key processes. Address deferred equipment spending.
- One year out: get a view of value. Decide what happens to any real estate. Choose your route: outside sale, internal transfer, or a broker-led process. Start confidential conversations.
Closer to the finish line than that? Good sales happen on shorter timelines too; you just have fewer ways to increase value first.
How to choose
- Is there someone inside who truly wants it and can finance it? If not, an internal transfer will be hard to make work.
- How much do you need at closing? If you need most of your proceeds up front to retire, an outside sale is usually the answer.
- How much do continuity and legacy matter? If keeping your team and your name matters, choose a buyer whose model is to operate businesses for the long term, not merge them.
Once you decide to sell, How to sell a business in Ontario walks through the process step by step.
Own a GTA business with $500K+ in EBITDA? Find out how a buyer would see it, in one confidential conversation.
Start a conversation