Apply once the purchase has closed or the capital is genuinely irrevocable, since an application filed while the deposit can still be returned invites refusal. Admission periods are set by the classification and can be renewed while the enterprise continues to qualify, which makes the annual state of the business, not the original purchase, the recurring test.
The application follows the money, and the renewals follow the business
The order that fails is the common one: agree the deal, apply immediately to save time, and hope the conditions are ignored. The order that works is to make the money irrevocable first, close if closing is straightforward, and then apply with a file that describes an enterprise already in existence. For a seasonal operation this argues for closing before the winter, so that Tobias is in place for the ordering, hiring and marketing that determine whether the following summer performs.
Renewal deserves the same attention as the first application. Each time, the business must still be real, operating and non-marginal, so accounts, payroll records and tax filings should be maintained with a later reader in mind. An enterprise that quietly shrinks to one person over three seasons will find that out at the worst moment.