In this podcast, Ken Burgin talks with Paul Leach from GSE Business Consultants about Buying and Selling Cafes and Restaurants. Paul is an experienced business consultant and broker: he originally trained as a chef and has many years of experience as a cafe and bakery owner.

There are some great hospitality businesses for sale, and many that will be disappointing - it's essential to understand the factors that make the difference between a good purchase and a bad one. Proper due diligence plus a good broker, lawyer and accountant can make all the difference. Paul also assists business owners to prepare their business for sale through an orderly exit strategy, and is the founder of Australia's best Facebook Group for hospitality operators Growth, Strategy and Exit Planning For Cafe Owners.

Topics Discussed...

• State of the cafe and restaurant market - what type of businesses do people want to buy after two years of Covid?
• City or country businesses - how does the market differ?
• With the buying and selling process, what parts do people find most challenging? 
• Legal issues - leases, contracts, licenses and other obligations. 
• Landlords and occupation costs - there has been more scrutiny on how landlords behaved during Covid lockdowns
• Understanding the figures - due diligence for buyers, and preparing a case for sellers. Are better figures now available with decent bookkeeping becoming the norm?
• Financial benchmarks - what makes a business an attractive purchase?
• How to make your business more 'saleable' beyond good profit figures?
• How to value your business and justify the price. Any value in 'potential'?
• Why use a broker to sell vs. doing it yourself? 

You'll find the Show Notes and links for today's episode on the HospoReset.com website. Don't forget to subscribe to the weekly Hospo Reset newsletter, and connect with Ken Burgin on Linkedin and on Twitter.