The two run together rather than in sequence. The investment normally must be committed before the case is decided, so the purchase structure has to be designed with the requirement in mind rather than adjusted afterwards.
Design the transaction and the case at the same time
The awkwardness of this classification is that the money usually has to be at risk before there is any assurance of status, which is uncomfortable and is also the point: an investment that would be returned if a visa were refused is not irrevocably committed. Buyers manage the discomfort by structuring the transaction deliberately, with the funds released to the seller or into the business rather than held in a refundable arrangement, and by doing the diligence that makes the purchase worth making regardless of immigration outcome. Practically, the sequence is: negotiate and document the purchase, move and trace the funds, take control of the enterprise, prepare the case with the actual closing documents, and apply. Allow several months for preparation and check current processing times at the point of filing rather than relying on any figure quoted in advance.
Hypothetical example: A Canadian physiotherapist agrees to purchase a pet-rehabilitation clinic in Washington but has not yet signed the equipment leases. Before lodging an application, she should decide which payments and contractual obligations will be irrevocable, trace the source of each transfer, and verify that the business plan supports employment beyond her own household. Those steps establish a treaty-owned, active enterprise with capital genuinely at risk; a merely contemplated purchase does not. The closing date, lease commencement, and application preparation should be put on one calendar so that no document describes a future business after the money has supposedly been committed. Rushing to meet a seller's deadline can produce refundable escrow terms or missing bank trails. The safer sequence is diligence, binding commitments, proof of payment, operating plan, then the application process.