Perhaps you’ve had enough of the restaurant industry, or maybe you’re looking for a new restaurant venture where you can use your acquired skills and knowledge to build a bigger business. Whatever the reason you’re thinking of selling your restaurant business, you’ll need to make sure you’re fully prepared to entice in those potential buyers or investors. Naturally, you’ll have your mind set on achieving a good price, so here are 4 mistakes to avoid making before you even think of putting your restaurant on the market.
Financial Statements
Not recording all of your sales may come back and bite you. If a potential Buyer wants to verify your sales, the higher the sales can certainly make your business more attractive to a Buyer…
Making sure that all the necessary financials are up to date and in an accessible format is essential before putting your business up for sale. Failure to provide accurate information could negatively affect your asking price.
An unclean premise
When a potential buyer or investor walks through the door to inspect your restaurant, first impressions will count hugely. An untidy, tired looking and unclean premises will immediately trigger alarm bells about your sales performance and the overall hygiene of your business operation.
Any person interested in purchasing a restaurant will wonder how you manage to do business in a dirty, unkempt property. They’ll also be concerned about the impact you are having with customers and the local community, and their negative perceptions of your restaurant will certainly affect the sale price. Before even marketing your restaurant, be sure to make its appearance and cleanliness the best it could possibly be. You’ll be taking one step closer to achieving the sale price you want.
No social media presence
Already having an established and active social media presence for your restaurant business will be a huge attraction to any potential buyer or investor. Any hospitality business knows the importance of creating multiple social media profiles and using those channels to their full advantage to promote themselves.
Achieving a good base of followers on social media channels does not happen overnight. It takes time and continued effort to encourage customers to follow you and react/interact with your posts. Your genuine social media followers are in effect your valuable and loyal customer base, an asset which will most definitely help you sell your business.
Bad landlord relationship
If you are leasing your premises from a landlord, any rent arrears, animosity or bad history between you and them will be a negative factor to any buyer or investor. By buying your business, any new owner will in effect be inheriting that poor relationship which could hinder any new ideas they have for the business.
Establishing and maintaining a good, healthy professional relationship with landlords will only benefit your restaurant business in its current operations, and will be a real positive factor when you come to sell. Covid was a good example of a time when Tenants needed favours from Landlords. Those with poor relationships often did not get any concessions, hopefully that never happens again…
These are just four top pitfalls that can prevent the quick and profitable sale of your restaurant business. Taking time to understand what’s fully required of you and being marketing savvy will help you sell your business quicker and for a great price.
CHI is dedicated to keeping up with local and national trends in the Restaurant Industry to help serve our customers better and keep them one step ahead. If you are interested in opening, purchasing, or selling a restaurant CHI Real Estate can help. Get in touch with our team today.