Questions a restaurant buyer will ask
What does the restaurant really earn?
Buyers want profit they can verify on tax returns and bank statements. Cash that never reached the books won't count toward the price.
What are food and labor as a share of sales?
These two costs decide most of a restaurant's margin. Buyers compare them against similar restaurants and ask about anything unusual.
How long is the lease, and can it be assigned?
The lease is often the single biggest risk. Buyers and lenders need enough years left and a landlord who will approve the new owner.
Who runs the kitchen and the floor?
A chef or kitchen manager and a floor manager who stay make the restaurant easier to buy. If you do both jobs, the buyer prices that in.
Profit You Can Prove
Restaurants are where unreported cash does the most damage at a sale. Every dollar that didn't make it onto a return is a dollar a buyer won't pay for, and at two to three times earnings, it costs you two or three dollars of price.
If a sale is a year or two off, run every dollar through the books now. What is my business worth explains how buyers recast restaurant earnings.
The Lease Can Make or Break the Deal
A buyer is betting on the location. Read your lease for the remaining term, renewal options, any assignment clause and any personal guarantee you signed.
Many landlords will want to approve the buyer, and some will ask for new terms. Talk to your attorney before you go to market so the lease doesn't surprise anyone late.
The Liquor License
A Missouri liquor license doesn't simply transfer to a buyer. In most sales the buyer applies for its own license, both with the city and the state, before it can serve.
That takes time, so build it into the closing date. See Missouri liquor license when a bar or restaurant sells for how it works.
Concept Versus Location
Some buyers want your concept, recipes and name. Others want your space, equipment and lease to open something new. Knowing which buyer you are talking to changes how you price and present the restaurant.
Established restaurants with steady profit, good managers and a solid lease draw the first kind of buyer and better offers.
Keeping It Quiet
News that a restaurant is for sale travels fast through staff and regulars. Cooks start looking elsewhere and guests wonder what is changing.
Keep the sale between you, your broker and your advisors until closing is close. Buyers can tour after hours or come in as guests. A broker screens buyers before they learn the name.
Plan how you will tell the team. Framed as continuity, a sale often reassures people, because the new owner needs them as much as you did.
Filings at the End
You will file final Missouri sales tax and withholding returns, close your Kansas City accounts and settle the unemployment account. Start with the seller filings guides.
For a private estimate of your restaurant's value, send the form or call (816) 555-0167.