5 Tips to Sell a Sushi Restaurant For Top Dollar

After putting in years of hard work, you’re finally ready to reap the rewards of selling your sushi restaurant.

Whether you’re seeking new business opportunities, planning to retire, or just focusing your efforts elsewhere, the selling process can become complicated fast. There are lots of decisions to be made, but with the proper planning and guidance, you can successfully sell your restaurant business quickly and receive an optimal price, too.

How to Sell a Sushi Restaurant

The popularity and demand of sushi restaurants is on the rise. With new, exotic plates and classic favorites, more Americans are beginning to expand their pallets and add Japanese cuisine to their list of favorites. In the United States alone, sushi restaurants make up a 28 billion dollars market despite being a relatively niche industry.

To successfully sell a sushi restaurant for top-dollar and in optimal time, keep these steps in mind.

  1. Plan Your Exit Strategy

    sell a sushi restaurant with sunbelt business brokers

To begin the selling process, you’ll need to have an exit strategy in place that explains how you, as the small business owner, will exit the business.

Consider the following questions to help you get started on your exit plan. Keep in mind that potential buyers will look for signs of assurance that the sushi restaurant will still continue to thrive without you involved in the business.

  • When do you plan on making your exit? Immediately or after a predetermined time?
  • Are your retirement plans—financial or otherwise—dependent on the sale of the sushi restaurant?
  • Will current employees and sushi chefs continue working after the sale of the restaurant? Does paperwork need to be drawn up to ensure job security when new ownership arrives?
  • How will the transfer of ownership take place?

Address these questions when planning your exit strategy to avoid running into issues that will complicate, or worse, sour the sale.

  1. Organize Important Documents

Once you’ve planned how you will exit your sushi eatery, you’ll need to focus your efforts on organizing your books. Prospective sushi restaurant buyers will want to see records of everything from tax statements to inventory, to contracts, leases and more. Organizing your files and paperwork can become overwhelming, so don’t be afraid to consult an accountant or lawyer for help sorting through your legal documents.

  1. Valuing Your Sushi Restaurant

It is important to receive a proper business valuation from a third-party to determine the true value of your sushi restaurant. Often times, the emotional attachment that owners feel towards their business can cloud their judgment of what constitutes a fair price. Receiving a formal business valuation from an impartial entity is the best way to determine an equitable asking price.

Plus, there are many different approaches to calculating how much a business is worth, and things can get complicated. When it comes to getting a valuation, it is best to play it safe and leave it to the professionals.

  1. Assess and Improve

Before you list your sushi restaurant for sale, make sure your business is in tip-top shape and ready to sell. Assess your sushi restaurant to identify any areas where there’s room for improvement and develop a plan to rectify these issues. Any flaws in your daily operations, marketing strategy, pricing or facility must be addressed and improved prior to listing.

Another way to improve your sushi bar and make it more attractive to buyers is to grow and diversify your clientele base. Sushi restaurants largely obtain their customers through word-of-mouth reviews from current patrons. The more robust your clientele list, the stronger your sales, which will be attractive to buyers. Identify untapped markets in your area and brainstorm ways to appeal to them.

  1. List Your Sushi Restaurant for Sale or Consult a Broker

The last step to selling a sushi restaurant is placing the business on the market. To list your sushi restaurant for sale yourself, consult popular listing websites or consider using paid online advertising.

To simplify the selling process and ensure a smoother sale, consider working with a broker. Professional business brokers not only have valuable industry knowledge, but they also have access to exclusive pools of buyers who may be interested in your sushi restaurant. Business brokers take on the hefty workload involved with selling a business, leaving you able to focus your efforts on running your business.

If you’ve decided it’s time to list your sushi restaurant for sale, consider working with Sunbelt Business Brokers. With 30 years of experience bringing buyers and sellers together, you can rely on your Sunbelt broker for a successful business deal.

Find a Sunbelt office near you to get started on selling your sushi restaurant today!

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