Should I hire someone to run the business before I try to sell it?

Often, yes — if the business currently depends heavily on you personally, bringing in a manager before you sell can materially improve both how buyers see the business and what they're willing to pay for it, because it demonstrates the business can run without you rather than asking a buyer to take that on faith.

The nuance is timing and structure. Hiring someone shortly before a sale, purely to check a box for buyers, tends to be obvious to anyone doing real due diligence, and a manager with no track record in the role yet doesn't fully solve the owner-dependency problem — buyers will still want to see that the arrangement has actually worked for some period of time, not just that it exists on paper. Ideally, this kind of hire happens well ahead of any sale process, giving the new manager time to build real relationships with staff, customers, and suppliers.

If a full management hire isn't realistic in your timeframe, even a partial step — delegating specific relationships or decisions to someone already on staff — can help. A business lawyer can also advise on how to structure that person's role and any retention arrangements so they don't walk away right when a buyer needs them most.