A smooth and rewarding restaurant sale may come to you with luck, but it’s always better to tip the scales in your favour. To get the best possible sale without having to wait for months, you need to employ some simple tips and tricks that will make it happen. Don’t rely on the universe to provide for you – be proactive and get the job done!

1. Plan ahead
We mean way ahead. You should try to anticipate the sale at least a year in advance, because buyers will be looking at the cash flow and sales quality from the past year when they decide whether or not to buy. When you have the sale in mind, you can work hard to cut overheads and increase sales as much as possible. This makes your business look more impressive and will increase the likelihood of a quick sale.

2. Get help
You can always rely on a trained and professional real estate agent helping you out. They know the business and they know what they are doing, so with their help, sales should be simple. They will also know how to price your restaurant successfully, which is really important. With the wrong price you could be sitting on the market for months – or worse, letting your business go for less than it is really worth.

3. Be proactive
Don’t just let your agent do all of the work. Ask them for updates on how things are going, feedback, and so forth. You might be able to do something more to help the sale, and you also know that you will remain on the top of their minds. Not to put too fine a point on it, the client who is always calling for information is the one the agent will want to push a sale through for first.

4. Dress it up
When you sell a house, you normally give it a bit of a touch-up. Add a lick of paint where needed, fix the trivial issues, tidy up and clean around the edges. Make everything neat and appealing. The same is true of the restaurant – make it sparkle and you might appeal to buyers more. Not everyone can see potential, so you need to show them something real and ready. Make sure to pay special attention to the kitchen facilities and any attached living quarters or offices.

5. Don’t stop pushing
When you list the restaurant for sale, don’t start closing down your business right away. In fact, you should be pushing aggressively for higher sales and cash flow. The reason for this is that a restaurant listing with increased performance since it was put on sale is going to appeal more to buyers. If you scale back, then you are going to give the wrong impression to interested parties, who may believe the restaurant is actually failing.

6. Be open
You will likely get offers which are a little different to what you are actually asking. You might see an offer for less money but with a quick sale and cash payment. Your buyer may wish for a payment plan or financing. It could be that someone lowballs you just to judge your interest in selling quickly. The key thing is to respond to all offers. If you let them know that you need a higher offer, they may just put one in. Ignore them, and that’s a potential sale that just won’t happen.

Once you're ready to move on and find a new place for your brand new restaurant project, check out platforms like OpenAgent to find a real estate agent who knows their way around the business and the area – they'll negotiate a good deal for you and help you establish your new business in a smart location.

These tips will help you out, but be sure to look out for the unexpected too. All sorts of things can happen in this business, so stay on your toes!





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OpenAgent to find a real estate agent who knows their way around the business and the area – they'll negotiate a good deal for you and help you establish your new business in a smart location.

These tips will help you out, but be sure to look out for the unexpected too. All sorts of things can happen in this business, so stay on your toes!





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