Ask who will own the enterprise and with what nationality, when each payment becomes unrecoverable, what the filed accounts show, and what decision rights the buyer holds after closing.
Four questions the summary sheet skips
Business brokers answer the questions buyers usually ask, which are about revenue and price. The category asks different ones. Ownership nationality has to be settled before drafting because the enterprise itself must be majority owned by nationals of the treaty country.
The point at which money becomes unrecoverable has to be identified payment by payment, because commitment and risk are what the evidence must show. Filed accounts rather than summaries are needed to address whether the enterprise can generate more than a minimal living. Decision rights after closing matter because the investor must develop and direct the business rather than hold a passive stake.
Asking all four before an offer is signed is much cheaper than restructuring afterwards. Hypothetical example: a commercial beekeeping-supply business is being acquired by a Canadian entrepreneur who intends to run purchasing and sales. The first review should produce an ownership table, a list of all committed payments, projected operating accounts, and the signed agreement defining decision rights.
Share records settle treaty nationality; escrow and closing documents settle when funds are exposed; the forecast and staffing plan address whether the enterprise can be more than marginal. Sequence those tests before waiving diligence conditions. A common error is assuming that paying a market price proves eligibility.
It may show a transaction, but it does not demonstrate that the investor controls the business or that the operating plan has capacity beyond the household’s subsistence.