Saying that a lot of people sell restaurants and they are all pretty much the same is on par with assuming that a lot of people run restaurants and they are all similar.  The James Beard award nominated chef/owner would argue that his kitchen skills are a little different from the guy on the grill at the local McDonald’s.   A Michelin 4-star and a four stall drive-in may both be classified as “restaurants” but there’s a big difference between the two.   

The same thing is true for those selling restaurants.  General business brokers that sell everything from plumbing supply companies to a day care center certainly have the knowledge to sell a business but the point is whether they have the specific skills to sell your restaurant business.  Residential real estate agents hold the same license as a restaurant broker in many states.  Many will offer to sell your business especially in the tough housing market of the past three years.  It's up to the consumer to decide whether that's really the representation they want for buying or selling a restaurant.  Lately, it seems everyone is trying to sell restaurants, even landlord’s representatives are trying to act as buyer’s agents for a lot more than the vacant space they are used to dealing with. 

How does a buyer or seller know who to rely on when selling or buying a restaurant?  We recommend someone with skills, knowledge, experience and expertise.  A Certified Restaurant Broker® has all of these.  Certified Restaurant Brokers have over 100 hours of classroom and field training specific to the practice of selling restaurants.  He or she has been through a pre-test process to gauge skills and knowledge, along with a set of specific practicums and exercises.  At the end of that lengthy course of study, a Certified Restaurant Broker® is tested and has obtained a grade of at least 85% in financial, legal, and industry knowledge before gaining this important designation.  A Certified Restaurant Broker® has spent time in a restaurant kitchen and knows the equipment inside.  He or she has been educated on the HVAC requirements of a restaurant versus typical retail space. 

The work to retain the qualifications of a Certified Restaurant Broker® doesn’t end with initial testing.   To retain this industry designation, a broker must participate in ongoing mentorship and training over the course of the next two years before facing additional testing.  All We Sell Restaurants brokers are required to complete this rigorous training. 

For those seeking to buy or sell a restaurant, we recommend you interview others in the industry and then talk to a Certified Restaurant Broker®.  You may be surprised at the real differences. 

Eric and Robin Gagnon of We Sell Restaurants are both curriculum developers and trainers for the Certified Restaurant Broker® designation.  They designed the course of study and test restaurant brokers all over the nation.  Eric and Robin are co-authors of Appetite for Acquisition, the 2012 book release that was named Best of 2012 by Small Business Book Awards.

Read also, Selling a Restaurant - 10 Things a Restaurant Broker does to Get to Closing.

Robin Gagnon, Certified Restaurant Broker®, MBA, CBI, CFE is the co-founder of We Sell Restaurants and industry expert in restaurant sales and valuation. Named by Nation’s Restaurant News as one of the “Most Influential Suppliers and Vendors” to the restaurant industry, her articles and expertise appear nationwide in QSR Magazine, Franchising World, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, and BizBuySell. She is the co-author of Appetite for Acquisition, an award-winning book on buying restaurants.