Selling a Restaurant
Six Reasons to Use a Specialist Business Transfer Agent
Whatever your reasons for selling a restaurant, your primary concern will be to maximise your sale price. But there will likely be other concerns too such as:
“What is a realistic price to ask for my business?”
“Is there anything I can do before going on the market to improve its saleability?”
“How can I reach a large number of potential buyers without spending a fortune on advertising?”
“How do I advertise my business for sale without letting staff and customers know I am thinking of selling?”
“How do I know if buyers are genuine or time wasters? And what about the disruption to the business of multiple viewings by unsuitable buyers?”
“How do I handle it if a buyer makes an offer but then doesn’t follow through?”
Using a business transfer agent when you are selling a restaurant can help to maximise your price and deal with all the potential difficulties addressed in these questions. Selling a restaurant is a specialist area which requires experience and expertise. Here we list the top 6 ways that a business transfer agent such as UK Pub Sales can help you sell your restaurant.
They Can Value Your Restaurant Accurately
Because every restaurant business is unique, it can be hard for vendors to accurately set a price for their own business. A restaurant business is ultimately worth what a buyer is willing to pay, and that involves an up to date understanding of what prices businesses are actually achieving and which type of businesses are in most demand by today’s buyers. An experienced business transfer agent such as UK Pub Sales will be buying and selling businesses on a daily basis and will have a good idea of what buyers are looking for and local market conditions, allowing them to accurately value your business.
They Can Advise on Property Presentation
Related to valuation is how the business is presented to buyers. At UK Pub Sales we would visit a prospective seller’s property and advise them of the strengths and weaknesses of their business from a potential buyer’s point of view. Because we see so many businesses we are in a good position to make comparisons and to understand what delights or concerns a buyer.
A seller may then wish to act on this advice and carry out some level of modification prior to going on the market, in order to maximise buyer interest and ultimate sale price.
We then further assist with presentation by creating a full colour brochure for the property detailing the structure, contents, asking price, and financials, so buyers are fully aware of the property and dynamics before a viewing, saving time on all sides.
They Help Attract Buyers and Maximise Competition
A business transfer agent will have access to a database of interested buyers and will have advertising mechanisms already in place. Ultimately the price you can achieve for your business will depend on how many people are aware of it, interested in it, and competing to buy it.
At UK Pub Sales we have a list of registered buyers who we can contact immediately. We have a searchable web site enabling prospective buyers to browse restaurants for sale. We also advertise properties on other major business websites (e.g. Daltons) and in traditional trade magazines and press.
By casting the net as wide as possible we maximise the chance of finding multiple buyers interested in your business. This, of course, increases the chances of a sale, but it also helps to maximise the potential price achieved.
They Can Ensure Confidentiality
In many cases a vendor wants or needs to keep the sale of their restaurant confidential from competitors, employees or suppliers. This can be difficult to arrange if you are marketing the business yourself. A business transfer agent, on the other hand, can minimise the risk of the sale becoming known before you are ready.
UK Pub Sales can arrange marketing to maximise confidentiality. For instance, we can arrange not to contact anyone on our buyer list within a specified radius and to avoid local advertising. National or online advertisements can also be tailored to minimise identifiable details of the business. And since we always provide you with a profile of a prospective buyer prior to a viewing or releasing details of the business, you retain the ability to prevent unwanted buyers finding out about the sale.
They Save You Time by Evaluating Buyers
Selling a restaurant can be a time consuming process if you are taking enquiries and arranging viewings yourself. And viewings themselves can be disruptive to your business, especially if there are a lot of them. You will save considerable time and disruption by using a business transfer agent who can ensure that only serious and appropriately qualified buyers get to the viewing stage.
At UK Pub Sales we proactively vet interested buyers before introducing them to a vendor. This means talking to them about their background and requirements, as well as checking their financial position. In addition, we match buyer requirements to particular properties, to ensure a reasonable match.
They Know How to Convert Offers into Sales
It is one thing to get an offer from a prospective buyer – it is quite another to convert that offer to a completed sale. Buyers can pull out of a sale for all kinds of reasons, often relating to misunderstandings or disagreements about the terms of the sale, or a failure of communication between vendor and buyer.
An experienced business transfer agent can help to minimise the chance of offers falling through by keeping a close eye on the process, helping to facilitate communications, or actively suggesting changes or compromises to the deal to help a sale proceed. At UK Pub Sales we monitor offers closely at all stages to ensure that there are no unnecessary hold-ups on either side and that both sides are kept regularly updated.
Choose UK Pub Sales as your Business Transfer Agent
We have 24 years experience in selling restaurants and other hospitality related businesses throughout the UK. We therefore have the expertise and contacts which can help you achieve the sale you want.
Selling a Restaurant – To begin the processes please contact our valuation department for a free, no-obligation quotation either by phone or e-mail below:
East Anglia Office 01284 716696 or info@ukpubsales.com
Midlands Office 01212702280 or info@ukpubsales.com
South West & East Office 02380 011 770 or info@ukpubsales.com
