I Can Move Quickly
If your financials are in order. We can have the deal done in 4 months.
Price Range
$ cash Or $ + will require selling financing.
Frustrated with Business Broker me too.
If you are as frustrated as I am when it comes to working with brokers here are some reasons why dealing directly is more productive. I have some links regarding business and restaurant brokers to help you manage your expectations.
What I’m Looking For
I’m looking to buy a small independently owned restaurant in Florida. I am looking for a pizza shop, a café, or a fast casual American cuisine (burgers, fires, hot dogs, wings etc.).
The business needs to be able to prove that it is profitable through its financial statements and bank records. Ideally the business will also have a modern POS in place, TOAST is a preferred platform and have several staff members and have been in operation at least one year to verify income through tax filings.
My Process
Having a good process in buying or selling a restaurant is like having a great recipe, without one you are just kind of guessing and hoping it works.
After we have had an initial call and we both think that we may be able to do something, I will sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) or draft up a Letter of Intent depending on our conversation, and then begin my due diligence. More details in the following sections.
- Financial Due Diligence/ Review
2. Lease Review
3. Marketing Due Diligence / Review
4. Equipment Due Diligence / Review
5. Tentative Lease Approval
6. Site visit
7. Offer
8. Transition
9. Celebrate New Beginnings
Financials
I have found that doing my due diligence is often slowed down because financials are not in order. The financials that I will need as part of my due diligence include:
1. Financial Statements
2. Income statement, ideally a 12-month comparative income statement
3. Balance Sheet for the current month
4. Owners Equity Statement
The financials must be prepared by a CPA.
I insist that it be prepared by a CPA (charted public accountant as they are liable for any misinformation
Lease Review
Reviewing your lease is critically important to help in developing a winning deal. It will give me a good idea of what the current lease in place looks like. In doing a restaurant deal there are really three parties, the buyer, the seller and the landlord.
Marketing Review
One of the services that I provide in my marketing business is a marketing audit, that examines 500 marketing aspects of a restaurant. For the purposes of buying a restaurant though I will primarily be looking at your website and social media to see what kind of website traffic you have and the quality your social media.
Equipment Review
When reviewing your equipment, I will be looking at what equipment you have, the year, the make and model for major pieces of equipment. For all small ware a short description and the approximate number of items for that small ware. In the Equipment review please also include details about your POS.
Lease Approval
After the above has been completed the next step will be to get a tentative lease agreement in place with the current landlord.
Site Visit
Once everything else has been reviewed it’s time to have a visit. During the visit I will be bringing a professional HVAC service person, perhaps an appraiser for the equipment depending on the restaurant type, and a general contractor familiar with building codes for restaurants.
Offer
A formal legally binding offer presented.
Transition
Ensuring that all the licences get transferred and or approved, and operational details are communicated.
Celebrating New Beginnings
This is pretty self explanatory.
Note to Business Brokers and Restaurant Brokers
Thank you for visiting my site, if you have a business that you would like to present to me I would be happy to take a look at what you have, and will sign an NDA, however I will only work directly with the owner and will set a contract with you to pay an introduction fee for a deal that successfully closes.
Scary Business and Restaurant Broker Statistics
These are just a couple of quick search results I encourage you to do your own research but consider the sources of these stats.
The great majority of businesses listed with a broker don’t sell, 80% to 90% of businesses listed with a broker don’t sell. These are reports from the industry. So if you are waiting for your broker to help you sell your business so you retire or pursue your ambition you might never get there and just end up closing.
https://www.tampabusinessbroker.com/why-90-of-businesses-never-sell/
https://www.ibba.org/newsletters/main-street-news-fall-2019/
https://www.minervaequity.com/sell-small-mid-sized-business/
https://exitoasis.com/why-brokers-fail-to-sell-most-of-their-client-businesses/
https://worldwidebusinessbrokers.com/why-businesses-dont-sell/
