Positioning Your Restaurant for Sale

Selling a restaurant can be a challenging and time-consuming process. Often the most difficult part of the sale comes with managing your emotions as the owner and approaching the sale objectively. As a business broker, I have facilitated dozens of restaurant sales and have provided a few ideas that will hopefully help you position your business in the best light for sale and also make the process easier. 

When Is It Time to Sell?It is never too early to start planning for your sale. Begin the process with contacting a broker to explore your options well in advance of you considering the sale of your restaurant. Ideally, you start the exit strategy planning three years in advance. Having detailed financials for three years prior to the year you want to sell is very helpful in determining an opinion of value of your business and what a fair market price would be.

In my experience, many owners tend to value their restaurant based on what they heard another restaurant sold for or what a…