What are the Benefits of Buying an Existing Restaurant?
The million-dollar question for buyers should be,” what are the benefits of buying an existing restaurant”? The Restaurant Industry has a high failure rate, around 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year. And nearly 80 percent shutter before their fifth anniversary according to CNBC.com
Knowing these tremendous odds of failure, there are precautions prospective restaurant owners can take to help their odds of being successful. The biggest precaution is to limit your exposure to unknown expenses. How do you accomplish this task? The answer is to buy an existing restaurant for sale or 2nd generation restaurant lease space.
Dominique Maddox of EATS Broker says, “ I have a countless number of horror stories of new restaurant owners going broke on the build-out of restaurant space. I recommend to my buyers to look for an established restaurant to keep or convert to a new concept. I have seen restaurant owners spend over $500,000 on a build-out and sell a year later for less than $100,000.”
Eats Restaurant Brokers provides 5 Reasons to Buy an Existing Restaurant:
1. Established an Open– Why wait to open a restaurant when you can buy one and be open the same day of the closing day? When you buy an established restaurant that has been open for a significant amount of time, it comes with an established customer base and goodwill.
Why wait to build up Google Reviews when you can buy a location with great reviews and an online reputation. Some restaurants come with professional websites, great social media following, and email customer marketing lists.
To a restaurant owner the sound of the POS sales system taking orders, delivery orders coming in, and pick up orders on the 1st day of ownership is a priceless feeling.
- Staff- One of the hardest tasks for new owners is to recruit, hire, and train staff members. Established restaurants usually come with a trained employee workforce, these individuals are trained on the basic skills that are necessary for performing their roles. Inheriting experienced employees can be a valuable asset.
- Existing Business Relationships– The current owner has established relationships with food vendors, suppliers, printers, insurance companies, service companies for restaurants, and banks. Some of these relationships can easily be transferred at the time of closing.
- Price and Expenses– The current seller usually has everything in place for a new buyer to take over the operations. When purchasing an established business, the buyer knows exactly what he or she is getting for the price. The buyer in most cases can review the seller’s profit and loss statements and learn from the seller’s success and failures with expense control.
- Furniture and Fixtures– One of the biggest misconceptions for restaurant owners is that they own everything in the building. Restaurant owners can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to install a grease trap, hood system, walk-in coolers, walk-in freezers, and sinks. Only to find out once they are ready to sell all the leasehold improvements belong to the landlord (read your lease). Building a new restaurant requires you to convert an existing space into a restaurant.
Why go thru the troubles and heartburn of a build-out when you can buy an existing restaurant, that is fully equipped with restaurant equipment for pennies on the dollar.
For more information on the restaurant market and other available consulting services or restaurant valuations, contact Dominique Maddox at 404-993-4448 or by email at sales@eatsbroker.com. Visit our website at www.EATSbroker.com
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Why do I need to show proof of funds
Did you know the statement “proof of funds” is not in the Merriam Webster dictionary? This information is interesting because the words, “proof of funds” are used daily in the Business Brokerage world.
Proof of Funds (POF) demonstrates how much money a person or entity has available in liquid assets. When purchasing a restaurant, you may need documentation showing your Proof of Funds to show the Seller or Listing Broker that you can cover the purchase costs of the restaurant transaction.
Dominique Maddox–Restaurant Broker and Founder of EATS Broker says, “I have experienced some serious heartburn from deals that I did not require a buyer’s proof of funds upfront. Restaurant Listings that are franchises with financial requirements, high-income listings, and SBA approved deals, I will require proof of funds before providing seller’s financials”.
A good Restaurant Broker will pre-approve buyers before sending the seller’s sensitive financial information to buyers for review. EATS Broker usually requires proof of funds in the form of a bank statement, 401 K statement, or letter from Bank. Once we have received the buyer’s financial information, we will send the restaurant name and profit and loss statements for review.
Proof of Funds should have the following information:
- Name of the account holder
- The balance of funds
- Date- needs to be within 3 months
- Letter from the bank-requires banker’s contact information
- Account Number is not needed
Proof of Funds not accepted
- Personal Financial Statement
- Copy of partner’s financials-if not involved in the deal
- Copy of mother’s or father’s 401K statement, but they are not part of the deal
- Copy of bank statement with balance amount blacked out
- Copy of a company’s Profit and Loss statement
- A verbal statement- I have more than enough to buy this business
- A verbal statement-I’m not showing my proof of funds until I see the restaurant’s financials
- A bank statement below the required liquid asset requirement
EATS Restaurant Brokers works with two different types of buyers. 1st the buyer that is willing to send proof of funds, and 2nd the buyer that doesn’t want to show proof of funds. Whom do you think a Restaurant Broker would prefer to work with and will respond to faster?
Some buyers feel entitled to view the seller’s financial information just because the restaurant is for sale. Imagine a buyer requesting a personal viewing for a home but doesn’t want to show their personal financial information.
EATS Broker advice to any buyers looking to purchase a restaurant have your proof of funds ready to show. Restaurant Brokers are looking for RAW(ready, able, and willing) buyers to convert into a closed transaction. Restaurant Brokerage is a 100% commission sales job, the buyers that are serious and ready to show proof of funds get the best customer service.
For more information on the restaurant market and other available consulting services or restaurant valuations, contact Dominique Maddox at 404-993-4448 or by email at sales@eatsbroker.com. Visit our website at www.EATSbroker.com
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Why Buy a Restaurant? Here are Four Reasons?
It’s a golden opportunity for buyers to buy a restaurant in today’s market. BizBuySell.com states website traffic has increased with Buyers and Sellers activity. Customer traffic on the internet’s largest Business for sale site now exceeds pre-Covid-19 levels. Traffic to the website was up 19% May 2020 compared to May 2019.
Yelp recently updated its Local Economic Impact Report to provide in-depth information on the brick-and-mortar business sectors across the nation. Yelp states in March, Restaurants had the highest number of business closures, compared to other industries, and have continued to close at high rates.
53% of restaurant closures are indicated as permanent on Yelp.
What do high restaurant closures and increased seller activity on BizBuySell.com mean? It’s a great time to buy a restaurant!
EATS Restaurant Brokers Four Reasons Why it’s a great time to buy a Restaurant?
- Cares Act SBA Loan Program
As part of the coronavirus debt relief efforts, the SBA will pay 6 months of principal, interest, and any associated fees that borrowers owe for all current 7(a), 504, and Microloans in regular servicing status as well as new 7(a), 504, and Microloans disbursed prior to September 27, 2020.
This is a great opportunity to get six months of free financing for their business. For loans made after March 27, 2020, and fully disbursed prior to September 27, 2020, SBA will begin making payments with the first payment due on the loan and will make six monthly payments.
- Second Generation Restaurant space available.
The high amount of restaurant closures is an opportunity for another restauranteur. Prime real estate spaces are coming available due to restaurants not reopening. This is a golden opportunity for buyers to get a second-generation restaurant space in prime retail areas.
- Businesses with Growth Potential
Many businesses are well-positioned for a post-Covid-19 economy. Take Out and Delivery are in high demand from online ordering and increased digital exposure. Quick Service Franchises such as Wing Stop, Papa John’s, and Domino’s have seen business skyrocket since March when the Covid-19 outbreak happen.
The forced closures across the US have increased buyer’s ordering online. Restaurants that were in position with online ordering platforms are going strong.
- Exiting Business Owners
Many baby boomers may choose to sell or close rather than persevere through Covid-19 new guidelines for re-opening. Baby Boomers that are close to retirement are viewing the opening of the economy and increased buyer demand as the time to sell.
For more information on the restaurant market and other available consulting services or restaurant valuations, contact Dominique Maddox at 404-993-4448 or by email at sales@eatsbroker.com. Visit our website at www.EATSbroker.com
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3 Types of Buyers after Covid-19
EATS Broker talks to 3 Types of Buyers after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak about buying a restaurant. The conversations we had before Covid-19 were much different than the conversations now. Today’s conversations come with a collection of unknown factors.
Today’s market is buzzing with a large number of buyers and sellers entering the market. Some want to become an entrepreneur while others want to sell a business. According to BizBuySell.com traffic has increased with Buyers and Sellers activity and now exceeds pre-Covid-19 levels. Traffic to the website was up 19% May 2020 compared to May 2019.
Dominique Maddox of EATS Restaurant Broker says, “ it’s a golden opportunity for savvy buyers in today’s market. Restaurants that were for sale at high valuation prices before Covid-19, now need to be reevaluated and the listing price lowered”.
3 Types of Buyers in today’s market after Covid-19:
- Sit on the sideline– these buyers are pessimistic and believe that the worst will happen with the Covid pandemic. These buyers will sit on the sideline to watch and wait. They are waiting to see what emerges next. These buyers will look but will not move forward to purchase.
- The Savvy Buyer– has the Entrepreneur Spirit these are the people looking to buy up businesses at some attractive prices. These are the buyers looking for value at a great price. We saw this in the real estate recession in 2009 and 2010 when prices were low, the savvy buyers were bullish and bought properties.
- The recent unemployed buyer– according to CNBC the employment-population ratio of the number of employed people as a percentage of the U.S. adult population plunged to 52.8% in May. This news means 47.2% of Americans are jobless, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. As the coronavirus-induced shutdowns tore through the labor market, the share of the population employed dropped sharply from a recent high of 61.2% in January.
With 42 million people out of job, some of those people will be looking to buy a business. These buyers have been furloughed from corporate jobs, or buyers wanting to use their 401K to purchase a business.
For more information on the restaurant market and other available consulting services or restaurant valuations, contact Dominique Maddox at 404-993-4448 or by email at sales@eatsbroker.com. Visit our website at www.EATSbroker.com
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