Seeing restaurants for sale is not anything unusual. In fact, throughout MN, the industry has seen a high turnover in owners throughout the past few decades. If you wish to sell your restaurant, consider contacting a business broker. He or she can prove helpful in your search for the right buyer. The success, of course, will depend upon your ability to choose the right business broker.
What to Look for in a Business Broker
It is important to make your choice of business broker based on a set of specific criteria. You need to evaluate each broker on the merits of his or her characteristics. Overall, the best business brokers to handle such businesses as restaurants for sale need to have:
- Experience: The firm and the broker need to have been in operation for a minimum of 4 years.
- Specific Qualifications: Make sure the broker has the right qualifications for the job. This should include credentials from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA). If the broker has a Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation from the IBBA, this is further proof of his or her experience and training in the field.
Does the broker have a real estate license? This is an asset in the business.
- Specialization: A generalist may be okay, but you would probably be better off with someone who specializes handling restaurants for sale. These agents will know your niche inside and out.
- Job Description: Does the business broker work this job full or part-time. You need someone who is there when you need him or her. Part time will not cut it.
- Promotion: How does the broker usually promote restaurants for sale? Does he or she do so online? If so, is the web easy to find and maneuver? How fast does it load? What are the statistics re: traffic, restaurants listed for MN, etc.? Is this the only site on which his or her listings will appear?
- Strategic Plan: It is not enough to have sites. A business broker must offer you a comprehensive plan on how he will sell your restaurant.
- Track Record: How many times has the broker been successful in closing a deal? Where restaurants for sale are concerned, how many businesses did he or she sell in MN and elsewhere?
- Fees: How does the broker charge? What are his or her rates? What do they involve? Are there any guarantees?
These are a few of the questions you need to consider and characteristics to look for when considering finding the right business broker.
Restaurants for Sale
If you are considering selling your restaurant business in MN, your best bet is a business broker. It is his or her business to be able to guide you through the process to a successful conclusion. Make sure you carefully vet the potential candidates. Not only should they be skilled, reputable and have a clear and viable strategic plan, they should also know all about restaurants for sale and how to move them to a, hopefully, profitable conclusion.