Things to Consider When Hiring an Atlanta Restaurant Broker Who Knows How to Sell a Bar

The five questions establish the difference between an expert and a novice when it comes to placing your Atlanta bar or restaurant for sale.

If you want to know the most important person in the transaction when you are trying to sell your Atlanta bar, the answer is simple. The Atlanta restaurant broker serves as the quarterback for pricing, valuation, documentation, packaging, managing and closing the transaction. From start to finish, his skills as a business intermediary sets the tone to bring your Atlanta bar onto the market and ultimately to the closing table. His efforts keep you focused on what you do best – running a bar or club while he works on getting the right price for your Atlanta bar. Any restaurant broker you are considering should be able to instantly respond to these five questions to insure you are weeding out the experienced from the trainee.

Job one of any restaurant broker is pricing so probe to find out “how much is my bar worth?” Getting the highest price is your priority and a broker must be able to substantiate the pricing to potential buyers for your club or restaurant. Make sure your broker is educated and open about pricing models and value strategies. If he can’t tell you the multiple for pricing based on the Atlanta market, he may not have the experience to sell your business. Restaurant brokers have a combination of experience and education that should culminate in valuation analysis. Ask him or her to explain what the Income Valuation model for pricing is and how it will be used for pricing your bar for sale. If he can’t explain pricing to you, how will he establish value with a buyer? If he asks you to give him the price you want for the business, you’re probably done with this beginner. Allowing the seller to price the business is the approach of a neophyte and probably signals he doesn’t have the true experience to tell you how much your Atlanta bar is worth.

Ask your prospective Atlanta restaurant broker exactly how many restaurants he has personally sold in the past six months. If he begins spouting off statistics of restaurants listed, once again, you may have a beginner on your hands. At the end of the day, restaurants sold in Atlanta are the key number to focus on since anyone can list a restaurant for sale at any price. It takes experience and knowledge to get ot the closing table and that’s what you want when you sell your bar.

As any Atlanta restaurant broker you interview whether he shares commission with other brokers and co-brokers. The Atlanta market has a pool of buyers all working with other brokers. Some are restaurant brokers. Some are residential agents while others are general business brokers. If a broker isn’t willing to work with all of them, your chance of selling is dramatically reduced. You go from an army of thousands selling your business (still limited by confidentiality agreement) to the one guy standing in front of you. It’s impossible to have all the buyers and you don’t want to eliminate this important pool.

Any Atlanta restaurant broker should also answer the question, what do you need from me to value my business for sale? A bar or club for sale can only be valued on an income valuation method if you allow access to your books and records (P&L, Tax Returns, Lease and more). He will also ask for a list of physical assets that will transfer (kitchen equipment and so on). If you aren’t asked to prepare these materials for immediate review by a competent broker or if he has to take them back to the office for someone else to set pricing, once again you might be dealing with an apprentice. There’s no harm in that but may not be who you want to sell your Atlanta bar.

Every bar owner deserves to know the cost to sell their business. The services of an expert restaurant broker are not cheap but they are based on results. Expect to fairly compensate a broker who shows he can get the job done with commission at closing and not before. Ask what you receive in terms of service before the sale is consummated. Does he have a system to issue reports on listing activity? Will he contact you weekly with updates on your listing? Getting the listing is easier than servicing the listing so depending on your information requirements, a restaurant broker who lists and runs may not be the broker for you. You should also ask about minimum fees. A broker that doesn’t charge a minimum may feel pressured to keep a listing overpriced since his commission is set by the value. Over priced listings don’t sell and you get one chance to make that entry into the Atlanta market as a new bar for sale. occur when the market is shifting by season or activity.

Hold any restaurant broker you are considering in Atlanta responsible for answering these questions and you’ll quickly separate the beginner from the real talent. The broker is the most important element in selling your Atlanta bar so conduct your interview and choose carefully. Then your Atlanta bar will sell for the most money in the shortest time.

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