Buying A Restaurant
Learn How To Buy A Highly Profitable Restaurant Business.
How can you be sure a particular restaurant business is a worthwhile investment?
- It’s not always about the overall appearance of the restaurant business.
- It’s not about what the seller initially tells you.
- It’s not even always about the location…
The ‘real secret’ to buying a profitable restaurant business is in knowing the exact strategies to use at each step in the buying process and by conducting an impeccable analysis, review, negotiation and valuation to be certain you pay the right price and terms and uncover any potential problems before you complete the transaction.
Secrets On How To Value A Restaurant Business.
Accurately valuing a restaurant business is often the most challenging part of the process for prospective business buyers. However, it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming or difficult undertaking. Above all, you should realize that valuation is an art, not a science. As a buyer, always keep in mind that the “Asking Price” is NOT the purchase price. Quite often it does not even remotely represent what the restaurant is truly worth.
Naturally, a buyer’s valuation is usually quite different from what the restaurant seller believes their business is worth. Seller’s are emotionally attached to their business. They usually factor their years of hard work into their calculation. Unfortunately, this has no business whatsoever being in the equation.
The challenge for you the restaurant buyer is to formulate a valuation that is accurate, and will prove to provide you with an acceptable return on your investment.
There are several ways to calculate the value of a restaurant business:
- Asset Valuations: Calculates the value of all of the assets of a business and arrives at the appropriate price.
- Liquidation Value: Determines the value of the restaurant’s assets if it were forced to sell all of them in a short period of time (usually less than 12 months).
- Income Capitalization: Future income is calculated based upon historical data and a variety of assumptions.
- Income Multiple: The net income (profit/owner’s benefit/seller’s cash flow) of a business is subject to a certain multiple to arrive at a selling price.
- Rules Of Thumb: The selling price of other “like” businesses is used as a multiple of cash flow or a percentage of revenue.
Let’s look at each to determine what’s best for your purchase.
Asset-based valuations do not work for small business purchases. Assets are used to generate revenue and nothing more. If a business is “asset rich” but doesn’t make much money, how valuable is the business altogether? Conversely, if a restaurant has limited assets, such as furniture and kitchen equipment, but makes a ton of money, isn’t it worth more?
Income Capitalization is generally applicable to large businesses and most often uses a factor that is far too arbitrary.
The “Rule of Thumb” method is too general. It’s hard to find any two businesses that are exactly the same. Valuation must be done based upon what you, as the buyer, can reasonably expect to generate in your pocket, so long as the business’ future is representative of the past historical financial data.
The multiple method is clearly the way to go. You have probably heard of restaurants selling at “x times earnings”. However, this can be quite subjective. When buying a small business, every buyer wants to know how much money he or she can expect to make from the business. Therefore, the most effective number to use as the basis of your calculation is what is known as the total “Owner Benefits”.
The Owner Benefits amount is the total dollars that you can expect to extract or have available from the restaurant based upon what the restaurant has generated in the past. The beauty is that unlike other methods (i.e. Income Cap), it does not attempt to predict the future. Nobody can do that. Owner Benefit is not cash flow! It is however sometimes referred to as Sellers Discretionary Cash Flow (SDCF).
The theory behind the Owner Benefit number is to take the restaurant’s profits plus the owner’s salary and benefits and then to add back the non-cash expenses. History has shown that this methodology, while not bulletproof, is the most effective way to establish the valuation basis of a small business. Then, a multiple, based upon a variety of factors, is applied to this number and a valuation is established.
Take your research to the next level by getting a copy of our special guide, “How To Buy A Good Restaurant At A Great Price©.”
About The Author.
My Name is Richard Parker and I have personally purchased thirteen businesses during my career and built several others from start-up. The information in my programs are based on real-life, hands on experiences. I have provided consultation to thousands of prospective business buyers who have used my materials, attended my seminars, followed my guidance and expertise to buy good businesses in every type of industry you could possibly imagine.
It has taken a lot of time, effort and some painful experiences to develop the tried-and-true formulas that immediately identify a good business. More important is recognizing what particular business is ideal for the individual. Good businesses run by the wrong people quickly turn sour and that’s why so much of our material is devoted to helping each client buy the right business for them.
Expert Consulting And Support At Every Step.
Along with the program you can consult directly with Richard and a team of experts as often as you wish during the business-buying process and there is no additional charge for this service and support.
Our Unconditional Money Back Guarantee.
After you receive the material, if for any reason whatsoever at anytime in the future, you are not 100% satisfied, or if you don’t believe that we have equipped you with all of the skills and knowledge you’ll need to buy the right business, just let us know at any time and we’ll immediately refund your entire purchase price.
No questions asked! No time limits! No hidden clauses! No fine print!
Not only are we going to help you eliminate all of the guesswork from buying a business, we have also removed any risk when you decide to purchase this program.
Why Our Products Are Unique.
The How To Buy A Good Business At A Great Price© series is not a generic introductory book about buying a business. The information provided are proven strategies that work and have been compiled from over one thousand successful business purchases and business for sale analysis and investigations over the past twenty years. This material is for the serious business buyer who realizes that in order to be successful, they must be equipped with specific knowledge and have access to unbiased expert advice to be certain they make all the right decisions.
The materials are laid out in a step-by-step format that mirrors each specific stage of the business-buying process. The program is geared to give the buyer the advantage in the purchase and to eliminate the risks associated with buying a business. As such, the information clearly explains what a business buyer needs to know at each step, what they must do, and exactly how to do it.
Plus, we provide ongoing expert consulting support to assist you at every step.
The materials also include automated valuation spreadsheets, legal agreements, business plan templates, specific language for purchase agreement terms and case studies.
Visit the program’s main page at www.diomorestaurant.com where you can learn more about this product or make a purchase.
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