Getting your company ready for sale: less dependent on you
For owners of manufacturing companies who want to sell or hand over in a few years.
Short answer
A buyer wants a company that also runs without you. The Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) advises owners who want to sell to transfer tasks and responsibilities and make the company less dependent on themselves. First make visible where the company leans on you: customers, quotes and prices, daily operations, figures and leadership. Then move that step by step to people, processes and systems. Start in time: according to the KVK, improving results can take three to five years.
In short
- A buyer also examines operations, not just the figures.
- The more knowledge and relationships sit with you, the bigger the risk for a buyer.
- Measure it first, with fifteen statements in five topics.
- Move one or two things per quarter. Start with the lowest score.
1. Why dependency matters
In a smaller company the owner is often the face of the business. You know the largest customers, make the difficult quotes and solve the problems in the workshop. That is a strength, until you want to sell.
A buyer does a due diligence. It looks not only at the financial administration, but also at legal, tax, commercial and operational matters. If estimating knowledge, customer relationships and planning sit mainly with you, that is a risk the buyer weighs.
You're not the only one
The Small Business Index by Qredits, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and ONL (February 2026) shows that 12% of small-business owners in the Netherlands are already working on a transfer, and 23% are considering a sale within five years.
2. Measure where it leans on you
Score each statement 0 (not true), 1 (partly) or 2 (true). The higher the score, the less the company leans on you. You immediately see per topic where you stand and where to start.
Owner dependency scan
- Customers—
- Sales and estimating—
- Operations—
- Finance and figures—
- People and leadership—
Your first three actions
Answer a few statements to see your actions.
3. The five topics
| Topic | Sign it leans on you | What you move |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | Customers only call you | A second fixed contact per large customer, agreements on paper |
| Sales and estimating | You make the quotes and set the prices | Capture costing rules and train a second estimator |
| Operations | Planning stops when you are away | An owner per process, work instructions stored centrally |
| Finance and figures | Only you know the margin per order | Monthly figures by someone else, margin per order in the system |
| People and leadership | All decisions go through you | A second manager for day-to-day matters |
4. A plan per quarter
- 1
Quarter 1: measure and owners
Fill in the scan, pick the three lowest topics and appoint an owner per process.
- 2
Quarter 2: estimating and customers
Capture the estimating knowledge and train a second estimator. Give the largest customers a second fixed contact.
- 3
Quarter 3: figures
Have someone else produce the monthly figures, and introduce post-calculation per order.
- 4
Quarter 4: the test
Two weeks away without being called. Count how often it still happens, and about what. That is your list for next year.
How do you know it works?
Not from a document, but from behaviour. A second person estimates five quotes within 10% of you. A large customer calls your colleague unprompted. The monthly overview is there without you asking.
5. The handover file
What a buyer wants to see, you can collect now. Per item, note where it is and who manages it after the handover.
- Customer list with contacts and agreements per customer
- Costing rules and hourly rates with their build-up
- Post-calculations of the past year
- Process description and owner per process
- Item master and bills of materials in the ERP
- Drawings and designs: where they are and who owns them
- Certificates, inspections and machinery
- Monthly figures for the last three years, work in progress and stock
- Contracts with the main suppliers
- Software, licences and who manages them
The KVK also mentions up-to-date administration, good receivables management, clear inventory management and contract durations as things that must be in order.
6. What this is and is not
This is about operations: how the company runs. It is not a valuation and not tax or legal advice. For the sale itself you need an adviser. What you can do yourself is make sure operations give a buyer no reason to doubt.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead should you start?
Well in advance. According to the KVK, improving results can take three to five years, and tax changes often have to be completed years before the transfer. Making operations less dependent on you usually takes one to two years.
Will this raise the sale price?
We cannot promise that: the price depends on much more. What is true: a buyer sees less risk when the company does not lean on one person, and that counts in the negotiation and the terms.
Do I need an adviser?
For the sale itself, yes: valuation, tax structure and contracts. For making operations less dependent on you, you can do a lot yourself, with your team.
What if I want to stay on after the sale?
Many owners do: in the Small Business Index, almost 48% of those who want to transfer say they want to stay involved (part-time) afterwards. Agree clearly on the role you keep, and make sure the company also runs without that role.
Where do I start?
With the scan on this page. Pick the topic with the lowest score and move one thing there this quarter. Often that is estimating or customer relationships.
Sources
Other people's figures and statements on this page come from here. Calculation examples are fictional.
- KVK (Dutch Chamber of Commerce): Getting your business ready for sale Transferring tasks, less dependent on yourself, three to five years (Dutch).
- De Zaak: Due diligence limits risk in an acquisition What a due diligence looks at (Dutch).
- Onderneming.nl: 1 in 3 small-business owners considers selling or transferring Small Business Index (February 2026, Dutch).
About the author
Safouan Bolbaroud · Founder of Agentfabriek
At Agentfabriek, Safouan builds automations on top of the ERP systems of manufacturers and wholesalers. He writes about what needs to be in order before automation makes sense.