Are you ready to sell your restaurant? You may have put your blood, sweat, and tears into every part of your establishment, but when the time comes to sell you can’t be emotional about the price. When your listing first hits the market, it needs to be priced fairly or it will stay on the market forever.

Why?

When new listings first appear on the business market scene, there will be a lot of activity. Lots of calls will come in. Lots of non-disclosure agreements will likely get signed and prospective buyers will be coming through the door. Just like in home sales, the newer the listing, the more excitement it draws. If your price is way too high, all of the potential buyers brought in by the new listing will be driven away, probably for good.

What to do instead?

Get yourself a good business broker who has experience and knowledge in the restaurants-for-sale market and together come to an agreement on pricing. In some cases, the price a broker will suggest will be higher than you were thinking you could get, in some cases the suggested asking price will be lower.

This is a place where you should ask lots of questions and genuinely listen to the answers. Why does your broker think that this is an appropriate price? What have other similar restaurants sold for? What aspects of your financials and the establishment itself are causing a difference in opinion between you and your broker on price?

If you wind up with a restaurant broker who will let you list your restaurant for whatever you want- be wary. As most sellers want the maximum price they assume they can get, it happens all too often that restaurants come on the market priced incredibly high. If your books don’t justify the price, if the place needs a lot of work, if a large competitor just moved in next door- you are going to need to justify the price you are asking for to every potential buyer. The way to make the whole process work more smoothly is to list your restaurant at a reasonable price the first time.

Are you a restaurant owner who thinks perhaps the price on your restaurant is what’s keeping away the buyers? Leave us a comment or question here, and we look forward to assisting you.

Want to read Selling a Restaurant: Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make, Part 1-Using a Real Estate Agent? Click here.

Want to read Selling a Restaurant: Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make, Part 2-Selling Your Restaurant on Your Own? Click here.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com