Before. E-2 requires funds already spent or irrevocably committed and at risk, so the lease and equipment orders should be in place; a properly conditioned escrow may be used for the purchase price. A plan unsupported by spent or qualifying committed funds does not satisfy the investment requirement.
Commit first, and use escrow for the reversible part
The sequencing problem for a start-up is that the couple must put money at risk to qualify while knowing the application could be refused. The accepted solution is to spend what the business needs regardless, such as the lease, incorporation, permits and equipment they could resell, and to place any large discretionary amount in an escrow arrangement that releases it to the business on approval and returns it to them on refusal; consular guidance treats that structure as sufficiently committed. Setting up the U.S.
company and opening its bank account come first, then the lease, then equipment, then the application at the consulate with the bakery weeks from its first delivery. Neither spouse may work in the bakery before admission in E-2 status; supervising installation as a visitor is a grey area best handled by a hired contractor. The timeline should also leave room for the state health inspection, which the officer may ask about.