A site visit checklist for buying a Canadian business covers what to physically inspect and observe in person — equipment in operation, premises condition, staff and customer behaviour, safety and signage — the details a document review alone cannot confirm, and how to coordinate the visit without alerting staff or customers to a possible sale.
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This checklist covers what to look for during an in-person site visit to a Canadian small or medium business, going beyond the fact that a visit happens into what a buyer should actually be checking while there. No financial statement or contract shows what a business looks and feels like while it is actually running, and a buyer who treats the visit as a formality misses information no document will ever supply.
Walk the whole premises, not just the public areas
Ask to see storage, back-of-house and any areas customers never seeA tidy front counter and a chaotic back room are common together, and the back room is a better predictor of how the business is actually run day to day.
Check general upkeep, cleanliness and evidence of deferred maintenance throughout the spaceA pattern of small, unaddressed repairs across the premises often points to a broader habit of underinvestment that a single walk-through can reveal quickly.
Note the condition of the exterior, signage and parking, since first impressions affect customers tooA location that looks tired from the outside is fighting an uphill battle for new customers regardless of how good the operation inside actually is.
Watch the business actually operate
Time the visit, where possible, to see the business running during real operating hoursA visit scheduled for a quiet moment tells you little about how the business handles its actual busy periods, which is when problems tend to show themselves.
Observe how staff interact with customers, and with each otherStaff who look disengaged or visibly tense with each other are showing you something about culture and management that no employee handbook will capture.
Watch a full transaction or service cycle from start to finish if you can arrange itSeeing the actual sequence of steps a customer goes through often surfaces friction points the owner has stopped noticing after years of running the business.
Test equipment rather than take its condition on faith
Ask to see major equipment actually running, not just sitting in placeEquipment that looks fine standing still can reveal a problem the moment it starts up, and a seller reluctant to demonstrate it is itself worth noting.
Look for maintenance logs posted or kept near the equipment itselfEquipment with no visible maintenance record, beyond a verbal assurance it works fine, usually needs replacement sooner than the seller’s account suggests.
Note anything that looks close to the end of its working lifeA rough estimate made on the spot, cross-checked later against the fixed asset register, is often more accurate than relying on the seller’s stated age for a piece of equipment.
Coordinate the visit without tipping off the market
Agree with the seller in advance how the visit will be explained if anyone asksA vague or improvised explanation on the day itself tends to raise more questions than a story both sides have already agreed on beforehand.
Consider a second, less formal visit later in the process to see how things look unannouncedA business that looks noticeably different when nobody has had time to prepare for the visit is telling a buyer something the first, coordinated visit could not.
Take photos or notes with the seller’s permission so findings do not rely on memory laterA specific, dated record of what you saw is far more useful in a later negotiation than a general impression recalled weeks after the visit.
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