Reasons Why Baby Boomers Should Sell or Buy a Restaurant

For over 20 years, Restaurant Realty Company has SOLD over 1,000 restaurants, bars and clubs. Most of our agents and brokers are former restaurant operators, managers, owners or sellers of hospitality industry properties and have extensive experience in selling restaurants/bars. We are true specialists as our sole niche is successful representation and sales of restaurants, bars, clubs and related commercial buildings exclusively.

Recently, I participated in several panels where audience members asked about trends with Boomers owning, managing and passing down their restaurants to the next generation. Here are some of our findings.

Reasons why baby boomers should sell a restaurant.

1. They are vulnerable to have physical and emotional challenges due to their age which could impair their ability to work in the business if they are a hands-on working owner. If the business is largely dependent on the owner to work the business the absence of the owner working as a working owner could negatively impact the performance of the business and substantially decrease the value of the business.
2. Due to the current positive economy the seller is more likely to get a better price versus when the economy may soften in the future.
3. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has an aggressive appetite to finance profitable businesses for sale during strong economic times.
4. In the San Francisco Bay Area and in many high-end areas of Southern California rents are escalating at such a high rate that the space will potentially become unaffordable for a restaurant use in the future. Additionally, it is difficult to find employees in these areas as residential rents are so high that restaurant employees can’t afford to live in these areas.
5. New future head on competition with newly remodeled facilities in the operators trade area could cannibalize sales and reduce the profitability of the business versus the sellers facility needing upgrades and renovation.
6. Many Individuals in the Generation X and Millennial generations are good buyers for baby boomer businesses.

Reasons why baby boomers should buy a restaurant.

1. The prospective restaurant owner has come out of the corporate world and has been placed into early retirement and needs to continue working to meet his/her financial needs.
2. The prospective restaurant owner will provide a job for himself/herself as well as for family members. He/she has family members as well as himself /herself that need employment and a business purchase will provide him/her and family a livelihood.
3. The prospective restaurant owner has excess money in their retirement account which they can invest into a business without any tax consequences when structured properly.
4. The prospective restaurant owner wants to fill a need that he/she observes in the community by offering his/her unique brand.
5. The prospective restaurant owner who was a chef in his/her earlier years wants to re-enter the market to utilize skills that he/she has polished through the years as an amateur.
6. The prospective restaurant owner has retired and is bored in retirement and wants to go back to work.
7. The prospective restaurant owner through life experience has often acquired excellent people management skills that are essential to making a successful business and wants to put those skills to use.

As a baby boomer you can become either a Buyer or Seller and Restaurant Realty is well equipped to help you begin the process.

Restaurant Realty has the largest inventory of California restaurant, bar, club and related commercial building opportunities as well as the largest proprietary database of buyers for these opportunities.

Feel free to call us at 888-995- 9701 anytime with questions.

SELLERS: If you are a prospective seller, please contact us at www.RestaurantRealty.com/Sell-A-Restaurant.

BUYERS: If you are a prospective buyer, please visit us at www.RestaurantRealty.com/Buy-A-Restaurant