6 Steps You Should Do Before Selling Your Restaurant

Take these simple steps to sell your restaurant now!

You have worked for years at building a brand and having great food and service. When you’re ready to move on and sell your baby, you need to prepare your business just like you are selling a house.

Here are 6 great ideas to make it happen now:

Curb Appeal

Like selling your house, first impressions to a potential buyer are very important. Make sure your landscaping is picture perfect. Put in fresh mulch around your bushes and plant entranceway flower pots with fresh and seasonal flowers. Paint or fix your front door and wash your windows inside and out. Make sure the driveway and parking areas are sealed and marked appropriately. Don’t forget to check your landscape lighting and replace those burnt out bulbs. If your neon sign has a letter out, fix it before it says something not intended.

Deep Clean

Hire a professional to come in and deep clean. They’ll see what needs to be done with a new set of eyes and find areas that need cleaning that you may have missed. Older stainless-steel restaurant equipment can be power washed to look brand new. Remember, a buyer wants to see themselves coming to work every day in a clean and attractive environment.

Declutter

Get a storage unit and remove unused equipment, small wares, paper goods, anything that isn’t used on a consistent basis. The less junk you have, the bigger the space looks to a potential buyer. Don’t forget that seldom organized office area – a messy desk implies a messy business.

Lighting

Replace all light bulbs with LED bright lights to enhance your artwork, menu boards and seating areas.

Upgrades

Fix the easy and highly visible things that need fixing now. Dirty or water stained ceiling tiles, torn booth seats, wobbly tables, torn wallpaper, and cracked tiles.

Price It Right

Just like selling a house, price it right the first time. Your professional business broker will help you properly do a detailed evaluation on your business and come up with a mutually agreed-upon price that has the detailed financials to back it up.

Selling your restaurant is an important decision and important decisions require good planning. By improving your curb appeal and sprucing up your restaurant, you will improve your chances of attracting a good buyer.

Written By Steven Becker @stevenbeckerhospitality.com.

As founder and CEO of St. Louis’ most prestigious catering company, Steven Becker Fine Dining, Steven Becker developed two of St. Louis’ award winning and exclusive banquet facilities, ​The Starlight Roof at the Chase Park Plaza and The Coronado Ballroom and Meeting Facility. Steven has bought and sold several businesses. Using his vast experiences in hospitality working with architects, restaurant designers, landlords and commercial real estate companies negotiating leases he speaks the language of a business owner. Steven is a business broker affiliated with Innovative Business Advisors LLC.

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