Ready to Sell? Restaurant Brokers Recommend Spring Cleaning!

Posted by Robin Gagnon on Apr 3, 2013 11:00:00 AM

The sun is shining, Easter weekend has come and gone and it’s time for Spring cleaning if you’re going to sell your bar or restaurant.  What do we mean by that?  Well, the restaurant brokers are always asked what sellers need when they are listing a restaurant or bar for sale but this is the time of year to re-visit that list and “freshen up” your information and location.  Here are some ideas:

Look over that apparel inventory gathered in the corner and under the bar and move out those t-shirts, coozies and beer mugs into a newly created Spring sale.  Take a long hard look at the POS system to identify slow moving items and drop them from the menu.  The more simple and streamlined your menu, the easier it is for a new buyer to believe he or she can take over and run the place.

Do you have liquor inventory sitting there that hasn’t been touched in six months?  Get your bar staff busy doing something besides collecting tips and tell them to invent a new cocktail around the slow moving gin or never ordered vermouth with a hot new drink that looks good, gets promoted and most importantly, uses up this inventory and replaces it with sales.

What are you doing to market your business?  Do some Spring cleaning on the efforts that aren’t working and pull in some marketing ideas to test the ones that will.  Calculate your return on investment for every priceless marketing dollar spent and then use that data to plan a calendar NOW for the entire summer months which are typically slow for restaurants.  Plan events to keep them coming in over the long slow ummer months and capitalize on Spring in every way you can. 

restaurant for saleYou’re preparing to open your patio so put your best foot forward.  Refinish the outdoor bar top with a fresh coat of lacquer if it’s suffering from the winter weather effects.  Power wash and put out some plants or flowers to make that patio appealing as buyers look over the restaurant.

Corporate tax filings are due March 15 and LLC’s must file by April 15.  That means there is no excuse not to have your financial house in order and ready for a buyer’s review.  It’s a fact of life in the restaurant brokers experience that sellers always want more than restaurant is worth.  If you’re comng off a good year, have the books and records ready to justify the pricing and increase your odds of selling when compared to other restaurants for sale. If you’re coming off a tough year, even more reason to lay it all out there and let the restaurant brokers talk you through how this is presented to a client and any reasoning behind the results.

Lastly, simply CLEAN every part of your business. Look up.  Are there ceiling tiles with spots or stains?  Spend $20.00 at Lowe’s or Home Depot on replacements so you don’t have to answer the question of “No, I don’t have a roof leak.  This is from an air conditioning hose that leaked last summer.”  Look down.  Do you need to have the floors steam cleaned, refinished, professionally buffed or otherwise made newly beautiful?  Look around.  Do you have ratty plants or musty/dusty wall coverings obstructing a clean and perfect view of the business?  Take them down or ask the restaurant brokers to give you a recommendation for a great decorator for some quick and easy ideas to freshen up the restaurant for sale.  Clean your windows!  What about the kitchen?  When’s the last time that hood was steam cleaned and the cooler was cleaned out?  These efforts make your restaurant look and smell more appealing as well as extending the life of your equipment.

See why do the restaurant brokers recommend Spring cleaning?  Take a look at every aspect of your business with a fresh eye as if you’re a buyer seeing it for the first time.  Trust us.  If you don’t, the buyers will nail you on every aspect as an excuse to lower the pricing.  Doing it now will cost you less than receiving a list of “must do’s” from the buyer.

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Topics: Selling a Restaurant

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