The manufacturing agreement, signed or negotiated customer and distributor agreements, purchase orders, a lease or documented workspace arrangement, employment or contractor agreements, and payment records for each. Marketing spend, CRM records and a sales pipeline can support the picture. Documents can be supplemented as the business develops, so gaps are not automatically fatal.
Match every claim to a signature or a payment
For each statement in the business plan, note the document that proves it: a forecast supported by a purchase order, a hire supported by an offer letter, tooling supported by an invoice and a transfer. Where a deal is still a letter of intent, say so rather than presenting it as revenue. Counsel should review any contract term that conflicts with another obligation before the file is assembled.
The firm already operates, which helps: three years of its tax returns, its payroll showing crews employed, its equipment list with titles and any financing, its contracts in progress and its licences and bonding show a real business. A seller who hesitates to produce financial statements, payroll summaries and customer contracts is telling the buyer something, and is also depriving the E-2 file of its core evidence.
Gaps usually appear where a payment came from a personal account, a family transfer or a credit facility.