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Time to Jump Into The Restaurant and Bar Business
Aug 10, 2021
Sometimes the best time to invest in a certain business is when everyone else is not investing in a particular business or industry. In this case, we’ve seen the pandemic scare people away from restaurants and particularly bars. As a result, revenues have declined for certain business while for other businesses, who’s business models have been take-out and delivery, have boomed. But nevertheless, the multiples for all restaurant businesses have taken a beating in the past 18 months.
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Negotiating A Lease That Allows Your Business To Thrive
Jul 14, 2021
Negotiating a fair lease with proper terms is crucial to the success of your business. Unfair or outrageous lease agreements kill your business! Don't go into these negotiations alone. Let Selling Restaurants do the negotiating for you... At no charge to you!
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THE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF INVESTING IN A RESTAURANT
Mar 26, 2008
ISSUE This is a good question for every Seller to read and understand. A client asked: "Do I pay taxes on the entire sale price of my restaurant or is it only on any profit made." Example If I owe $200,000 and I sell it for $300,000 do I only pay taxes on $100,000?
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Maryland Restaurants for Sale Advertising Has Begun
Jun 19, 2020
Jim McGinnis of Restaurant Brokers and Developers, Inc. has started to advertise his restaurant and bar listings on SellingRestaurants.com. Jim has been a restaurant broker in Maryland...
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Virginia Restaurants For Sale Advertising has Begun
Jun 19, 2020
Jim McGinnis of Restaurant Brokers and Developers, Inc. has joined the SellingRestaurants platform to advertise and market his restaurants and bars in...
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Delaware Restaurants For Sale
Jun 19, 2020
Jim McGinnis has joined the SellingRestaurants family to advertise his restaurants and bars for sale. Jim has 38 years in the business and he recognizes the power of SellingRestaurants.com...
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Las Vegas Restaurants and Bars For Sale
Jun 19, 2020
Trent Lee has joined the SellingRestaurants platform to market and advertise his restaurant listings. Trent joins a long line of business brokers who are relying on SellingRestaurants.com to...
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Miami Restaurants and Bars For Sale
Jun 19, 2020
Russell Cohen of Murphy Business Brokers has joined the SellingRestaurants platform to help him sell his restaurants and bars in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale area in Florida. Ru
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The Disadvantages of Buying an Existing AAA Franchise
Dec 27, 2017
There are a few things I've learned in this business over the years and today I want to share one of them. People have a belief that buying an existing AAA franchise such as McDonalds, Taco Bell, Jack-in-the-Box, etc. are great deals with low risk. On the surface, sure sounds like it.
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Franchises Approved by SBA for Acquisition
Feb 14, 2018
The SBA has published a list of franchise businesses approved for SBA lending. This doesn't mean the franchise isn't available for financing per se, it could mean the lender needs to go direct to the SBA to get approval. Check with your loan officer or under-writer for more details. Here is a link to the SBA website listing the franchises that are approved.
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Check Those A/C Units Before You Buy!
Sep 26, 2017
No matter the climate your business is located, checking those HVAC of A/C units is critical. This past summer was a test of some areas where temperatures tend to be moderate, but when the high heat struck, I walked into a number of restaurants where it was clear the HVAC units were not operating properly.
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To Buy Versus To Start-Up? That is the Question!
Feb 21, 2017
According to Keith Gillman of Restaurantdata.com, a company that tracks all opening and closing of restaurants across the United States, 10% of the restaurants fail in the first six months, another 10% fail the second six months and thereafter 10% fail each year. Cornell University study roughly supports
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Tax Intricacies for Immigrants
May 10, 2017
The United States continues to be a magnet for foreign immigration with somewhere between 8 to 20 million new immigrants settling here over the past decade depending upon which statistics one reads. Not all of those coming here are the illegals which are so prevalently highlighted in the nightly news.
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How To Buy a Restaurant Making $100k+ a year with Only $30k Down!
Dec 5, 2016
The lending environment is booming. Banks are lending and restaurants are moving as a result. This translates into great leveraging opportunities under the right circumstances. With $30,000 down plus closing costs, one can buy a restaurant earning greater than $100,000 and be putting more than double the investment in their pockets each year.
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Spend The Money, Save The Headache!
Mar 2, 2017
I talk to a lot of restaurant and bar buyers each day. I wish they could hear me when I say it is cheaper to buy a successful restaurant then a troubled restaurant.
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Getting A Restaurant and Bar Deal Done Takes Patience and Diligence
Apr 14, 2016
Buying and selling a restaurant and/or bar is a process requiring patience along every step. From the beginning of the negotiations to the very end of the deal when inventory is being counted, there is a tremendous amount of stress on both the buyer and seller.
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GET AN SBA LOAN FOR YOUR RESTAURANT/BAR PURCHASE
Oct 2, 2014
The value of an experienced Business Broker in handling an SBA transaction in the selling and buying of a restaurant is invaluable, and can make the difference between getting the deal done and having it fail. There are few business broker who have the experience to handle such transactions as SellingRestaurants does.
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LOOKING FOR A STEAL OF A DEAL! THEN CONSIDER RELOCATING!
Sep 26, 2015
It seems that every day a business buyer calls me looking for the deal of the century. Those deals do exists, but rarely are they in your backyard. They are often in other cities where perhaps the weather isn't as nice as say San Diego or the distance from a major city is a couple hours.
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Asset Purchase Sales Are Often More Tax Advantageous To Buyers Than Stock Purchases
Mar 30, 2016
Many decisions made during an acquisition will have tax implications for the entities on both sides of the transaction. One of most important decisions is which basic deal structure to use-an asset purchase or a stock purchase. In an asset purchase, all or nearly all of the assets and liabilities of the target are transferred
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Buying a Restaurant - Watch the Deferred Costs
Sep 21, 2016
I just went to a burger place that I haven't been to in 13 years. It's been there for 18 years. Burgers are great! And the food in general is pretty good too. I estimate the business does $80,000 to $100,000 a month with a rent factor of perhaps 7% range. It resides in perhaps 2,800 Sq. Ft. So it makes money. Probably about $200,000 a year. It's value is in the $500,000 range based on my estimated cash flow.
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ABC Insights
Jan 29, 2013
In California, the Alcohol Beverage Control is in charge of all licensing. here are some insider tips on what to expect and assistance on how to avoid problems when applying for a license.
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Exceptions to SBA Loans: How To Get a 25 year Loan
Feb 26, 2016
The exceptions to the standard vanilla SBA loan are numerous. In these articles I try to educate the reader on other ways and SBA loan can be achieved.
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SELLING RESTAURANTS CAN REPRESENT BUYERS
Mar 15, 2016
Buying a restaurant and/or bar is a daunting task, requiring a skilled and experienced restaurant broker to help you through the process and be successful. A skilled restaurant broker understands how to negotiate with landlords, getting you the best possible results and providing you with an exit strategy, a strategy often over seen by most brokers.
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Your Lease-Assignment or Assumption
Jan 29, 2013
Leasing matters are tricky and many business owners are lost in the verbose language Landlords use in their leases. Get one step ahead of them with this article.
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HOW MUCH IS THE RESTAURANT I'M BUYING WORTH?
Jul 11, 2015
It seems that everyday someone contacts me from around the world wanting me to value a restaurant they're buying and practically every time they are paying way too much. Most brokers don't understand the restaurant business...
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RESTAURANT LEASING HEATS-UP! DEMAND HIGH! RENTS UP!
Apr 17, 2015
As president of Ohio-based Marco’s Pizza, Bryon Stephens oversees a 600-unit chain poised to add 175 units this year. That rapid growth provides Stephens dynamic insight into one of the more pressing problems facing today’s growth-focused quick-service brands: real estate.
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USING LEVERAGE (LOAN) TO BUY A RESTAURANT!
Oct 28, 2014
As a finance guy, I tend to be conservative when investing. It's in my DNA. I spent 22 years in corporate finance ending with a CFO role with Universal Music Group, the largest music recording company in the world. So numbers are in my DNA as well. When people talk of leverage, it can have various meanings to each investor. The purpose of this article is to show you the math related to leveraging....
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HOW TO VERIFY THOSE TAX RETURNS!
Oct 28, 2014
Buying a business is a huge financial investment for anyone especially when one works hard to scrape together his or her hard earned savings to buy a business. So making an intelligent purchase is key to making sure you don't make a bad investment. And it's always all about the money....
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BUYING A RESTAURANT? WHAT ARE THE SBA LOAN FEES?
Aug 1, 2014
Many buyers are in the dark as to what the costs will be to close an SBA loan. I recently closed an SBA loan transaction so I thought I'd itemize those costs for the buyer looking to get a business using an SBA loan.
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FIRST TIME BUYER? HERE ARE SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR YOU!
May 5, 2014
So you have the idea of buying a business and this is your first time venture into buying one. You've made it this far in your search and found a few websites advertising businesses for sale. You look at the ads and you're a bit confused at what they all...
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GETTING AN SBA LOAN FOR A RESTAURANT - THE SHORT STORY VERSION
May 20, 2014
Getting a loan for the purchase of a restaurant is a challenge, but if handled by a knowledgeable broker, it becomes a very manageable process. The purpose of this article is to give the read a high level view of how the SBA process works. It is not meant to be a detailed road map to the loan per se.
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BUYER MEETS EMPLOYEES BEFORE THE CLOSE - MISTAKE OR NOT?
Apr 30, 2014
As a broker, my job is to reduce the risk of a deal failing by removing what I refer to as wild cards from the deck. One such wild card is the personalities between the employees and the new buyer and all the risks that come with such meetings. But inevitably during the deal the buyer may insist on meeting the employees.
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WATCH THAT LEASE OPTION LANGUAGE!
Apr 3, 2014
A lease option gives the holder of the option the right to exercise his or her right to continue with the lease for a specified period of time. The lease option is usually in control of by the tenant. A lease option is a unilateral contract, meaning one side has all the power while the other side is powerless.
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LIQUIDATED DAMAGES - WHAT ARE THEY?
Mar 20, 2014
Liquidated damages language are inserted into contracts to limit the liability of the party creating the harm. For example, Party A breaches the contract with Party B. If there is a liquidated damages clause in the contract, then Party B has the rights to exercise the clause and take the money specified in the clause. But it is never that simple is it!
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INSPECT THAT RESTAURANT OR LOSE YOUR BUTT!
Jun 24, 2013
All too often a buyer steps into a restaurant business only to find that coolers are not holding their temp and the HVAC system is failing in the middle of the summer heat. This can kill a restaurant business before it gets off the ground draining the new owner of much needed working capital for marketing and advertising their business.
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FINANCING A U.S. COMPANY FOR E-2 VISA
Sep 11, 2013
Financing for an E-2 visa can be tricky but there are options other than paying 100% cash for your deal. The US Immigration Service assumes that foreign investors have a great deal of cash lying around to purchase US businesses or create them. The reality is that foreign investors don’t always want to pay 100% cash for their deal.
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SETTING UP YOUR RESTAURANT BUSINESS - C CORP vs. S CORP
Jun 19, 2013
Due to California's "gross receipts" tax on limited liability companies, if your business involves selling goods you should consider forming a corporation rather than an LLC, but once you make that decision you must resolve whether to elect to be taxed as an S corporation or allow the corporation to be taxed as a C corporation.
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HOW TO SMELL A RAT LEASING A RESTAURANT
May 22, 2013
In this weak economy, there are lots of commercial real estate foreclosures, properties behind in real estate taxes and even massive IRS and State liens on a property that unless the buyer/new tenant does his or her homework they could face huge financial losses. These are facts landlords won't tell the buyers/new tenants about in hopes of collecting large sums of money from the buyer and leaving the buyer/new tenant high and dry when the bank forecloses.
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MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A CAT!
Mar 8, 2013
As a clear illustration of how smart our agents are trained, we recently closed a tough deal. The buyer was financially weak in the sense he had saved $70,000 to buy a restaurant, but it was a BIG restaurant he wanted to buy. He had the operational experience to run it, but not the working capital nor the high credit score that this landlord would want.
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WE ARE GETTING SBA LOANS! CALL US!
Mar 8, 2013
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HOW MUCH IS A RESTAURANT WORTH?
Mar 4, 2013
We all ask ourselves every time we buy something of material value "is this the best price I can get?" or "am I paying too much for this?" We do it for car purchases, home purchases, hotels, car rentals, etc. So why would it be any different for business purchases? Except the difference is there are huge markets in those other products to determine a value such as hotel prices, car rental prices and home purchases...
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Pssst........I've Gotta a Secret
Mar 4, 2013
If you are buying or selling a business, entering into a manufacturing or consulting contract, or in any way collecting or sharing information about a business, at some point in the discussions more information about the business will be shared than either party would want the general public to know.
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HOW TO BUY A RESTAURANT OR BAR
Jan 8, 2013
The business brokerage industry has an image problem because there are so many brokers not qualified to sell restaurants let alone businesses. But at SellingRestaurants ourt agents are trained to do one thing, sell restaurants and bar.
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BEWARE ARIZONA RESTAURANT BUYERS!
Jan 18, 2013
It is unfortunate that I have to write this article, but SellingRestaurants' has a fiduciary duty to educate consumers, making them aware of unethical business brokerage practices so as to avoid those brokerage houses that practice them. I can't tell you the names of those houses, but if you read and study the below information you can avoid what several of our clients have endure dealing with these unethical brokerage house, and there are several of these houses in the Phoenix area.
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BUYING A RESTAURANT BECAUSE YOU CAN COOK!
Feb 19, 2013
At some time or another, nearly everyone has this dream of taking their great recipes and opening a restaurant or food business. And there are plenty of examples of people like Debbie Fields who baked-up Mrs. Fields Cookies, or Famous Amos (AKA Wally Amos) who made a fortune manufacturing and marketing his cookies into grocery stores, or Fred Deluca who in 1965 borrowed a $1,000 and opened a sub shop in Connecticut that eventually became Subway.
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NEIGHBORHOOD BARS - A GREAT PURCHASE
Mar 1, 2013
Every one is looking for some safe harbor investment; one that is recession proof and safe. If this is you, you ought to look at buying a bar. Not a club! But a good old fashion neighborhood bar.
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IMMIGRATE TO THE UNITED STATE & BUY A RESTAURANT
Dec 9, 2011
If you ever wondered how a foreigner could come to America and open a US Office and either work here themselves or bring in other workers, there is a way. It is called the L-1A nonimmigrant visa for intracompany managerial/executive transferees. How does it work?
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WHY USE A RESTAURANT BROKER TO BUY A RESTAURANT?
Nov 25, 2016
It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Just place an ad in the paper to sell your restaurant, find a buyer for your business and close the deal.
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ARE YOU QUALIFIED TO BUY A RESTAURANT?
May 21, 2008
Being a qualified buyer is key to successfully closing a business purchase. There are several variables at play when trying to qualify and the qualification process is nothing like trying to qualify a person to purchase a home. There are factors realting to you and factors relating to the business that needs to be analyzed. First and obvious is whether the buyer has the money to purchase the business....
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WHY BUY A RESTAURANT NOW?
Oct 30, 2009
Rents are dropping, talented chefs are up for grabs and, most important, smarter diners are looking for value, not glitz.
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BUY A BUSINESS USING YOUR IRA and 401K
Jul 30, 2008
Although thousands have discovered this golden opportunity, some of the savviest investors are still unaware of this remarkable funding option: You can utilize your IRA monies before retirement age to purchase a business without incurring early distribution penalties....
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THE SMART MONEY IS BUYING RESTAURANTS
Nov 13, 2009
There is an interesting trend going on in the restaurant and bar selling business. This week we started seeing investors enter the restaurant/bar market.
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THERE'S A GOLDEN NUGGET IN THAT PILE OF RUBBLE
Feb 8, 2010
Today I was thinking of what makes a smart investor/buyer of a business. I concluded it was the investor/buyer recognizing an undervalued business when they saw it of course. But what does that mean?
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HOW MUCH RENT SHOULD I PAY?
Jun 24, 2010
So you want to buy a restaurant. Having sold more than 350 restaurants in the past 5 years I’ve seen my share of sad stories in the restaurant business. Every day I get calls from restaurant owners whose dreams of owning and running a restaurant have been crushed by the recent weak economy...
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LOOKING FOR A RETAIL LEASE...USE CAUTION!
Jul 16, 2010
As a restaurant broker, we often get restaurant owners whose business is in trouble on many fronts but the primary reason for the trouble is the bad lease they got themselves into.
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NO SUCH THING AS A PROFITABLE BUSINESS FOR SALE...NOT!
Aug 11, 2010
I’ve been brokering businesses for 6 years now. Prior to doing this I was a buyer of businesses as some of you may know. After a two year search, I gave up and decided to open SellingRestaurants. I often get buyers who are skeptical about buying existing businesses and who are skeptical about a business’ profit....
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BUYING A RESTAURANT? GET SMART ABOUT LEASES!
Nov 2, 2010
Today we had a deal where the landlord is demanding 10% of the sales price of the lease...
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SO YOU WANT TO BUY - HOW TO BUY A RESTAURANT
May 13, 2011
There isn't a day that goes by where many business buyers call me wanting to purchase a restaurant or bar yet they have no idea where to or how to start. Learn how to buy a restaurant.
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SUCCESSOR LIABILITY WHEN BUYING A RESTAURANT IN CALIFORNIA
Jun 20, 2011
A major concern of anyone buying a business should be whether or not they will be exposed to any of the seller’s liabilities.
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CAVEAT EMPTOR...BUYER BEWARE!
Nov 27, 2012
All too often I get calls from buyers who don’t understand the dangers of venturing into buying a restaurant business without using a professional restaurant broker. Unfortunately, we’re often and wrongly categorized with general real estate agents or even general business brokers...
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BUYING A RESTAURANT, NOT AN EASY TASK!
Mar 17, 2008
There's a reason why buying a restaurant, bar or club is referred to as a buying process. Each deal has its own unique personality and each with new challenges.
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WHAT DOES BULK SALE MEAN?
May 11, 2008
HISTORY About the turn of the 20th century communication systems and travel made it difficult for creditors to thoroughly check debtor's credit history. Traveling distances between the sales office and debtor made it difficult to visit each customer to check up on them on any regular basis. What seems like a small distance today of 50 miles was a 2 day trip 100 years ago. So visits from creditor were far and few between.
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ARIZONA RESTAURANT BUYER'S BEWARE!
Jul 25, 2012
There are a lot of great points about doing business in a state that, compared to most states, is business friendly, but there are risks that one must know before buying a business in Arizona.
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SBA LOANS FOR RESTAURANTS - HOW TO QUALIFY
Apr 24, 2008
In recent months, the federal reserve bank has drastically reduced interest rates which has in turn reduced the prime rate. The prime rate is the basis banks use to determine the interest rates charges to borrowers. Most SBA interest rates are prime + 1% to 2.5%. Today's (April 2008) prime rate is 5.25%, down from 8.25% a year ago...
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LEASES FOR RESTAURANTS ARE COMING DOWN
Jan 6, 2009
The tide has changed in the retail rental market. Rents are coming down and at a fast pace.
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DON'T GUARANTEE THAT LEASE!
Jan 28, 2009
Leases can be huge liabilities for restaurant owners. Most leases are personally guaranteed by the tenant. This means, the tenant guarantees the rent will be paid through the whole term of the lease, even when the business is closed and not making money.
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LOOKING TO GET A VISA TO ENTER THE U.S.A.?
Aug 29, 2011
The low valuations for US. businesses and the weak dollar has led to a hot market for foreign investors to buy businesses which if purchased through the immigration laws could lead the foreign investor to getting a green card. Generally, there are two types of visas EB-5 and E-2.
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LET US FIND A RESTAURANT FOR YOU TO BUY
Aug 29, 2011
If you're frustrated with the business brokerage industry as I was, then you've got hire us to find you a business and to represent you in the purchasing process.
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SBA expands Commercial Real Estate Refinancing
Mar 30, 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Small business owners with eligible commercial real estate mortgages maturing after Dec. 31, 2012, will be able to secure more stable...
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HOW CALIFORNIA CAN STREAMLINE BUYING RESTAURANTS
Sep 27, 2011
Before the economy took a dive, closing restaurant and bar deals in California would typically take 60 to 120 days. If it was a simple deal, perhaps 40 days. If it was a complex deal that included an SBA Loan and or a franchise, perhaps it was 4 to 6 months.
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LEASE ASSIGNMENTS - WHAT EXACTLY DOES THIS MEAN?
Dec 9, 2011
The purchase of a business almost always involves the buyer either obtaining a new lease or obtaining an assignment of the seller’s rights to the existing lease...
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CALIFORNIA POLICIES MAKE BUYING A RESTAURANT CHALLENGING
May 17, 2012
As if business wasn't tough enough in the Golden State, then comes the ABC and the BOE to make it tougher. As the State of California tries to grab revenue from any and every possible source, they hinder the business of selling businesses.
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WATCH OUT FOR THAT LEASE!
Jul 9, 2012
I was talking to a property manager in the Sacramento region about a foreclosure that is talking place on one of his properties where we had several lease space listings we were trying to fill.
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FINANCING A RESTAURANT PURCHASE
Mar 6, 2008
Thinking about buying a restaurant or retail business but you only have 10-20% down payment? You’ll be glad to hear SBA interest rates have dropped significantly in the past few months making a business purchases..
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IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT BUYING A RESTAURANT
Mar 17, 2008
SellingRestaurants AGENCY RELATIONSHIP: SellingRestaurants represents Sellers. Anything the Buyer gives or tells the Agent, assume our Seller receives the same.
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UNDERSTANDING RETAIL LEASES
May 21, 2008
A lease is an agreement granting use or occupation of real property during a particular period in exchange for a specified rent. At common law, the lease was traditionally regarded as a conveyance of interest in land, subject to the doctrine of caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware").
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HOW TO SECURE A BUSINESS LOAN
May 23, 2008
As the financial markets change for buying a business and lenders increase the qualification requirements for business buyers, there is a drift toward the seller's replacing the banks in terms of financing the business purchase.
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