Selling a Franchise?
While we often work with locally owned establishments, we specialize in the sale and purchase of franchised businesses across the U.S. Unlike privately owned entities, there is much more involved with a franchise acquisition and transfer before a business sale can occur. Atlantic Business Brokerage has extensive experience in helping both franchise buyers and franchise sellers navigate any given franchisor’s requirements.
Selling a Franchise
Are you considering selling your franchised business? If so, you should contact Atlantic Business Brokerage today and let us show you what we can do for you. We are a well-established brokerage firm with decades of experience working within the franchise sale and purchase industry. Our long track record of franchised businesses sold, along with the hundreds of satisfied clients we’ve helped over the years, speaks for itself.
The reasons we’re successful in this industry are many; an unmatched access to former and current franchisor personnel and their franchisees, a familiarity with up-to-date franchise transfer procedures of many major franchisors, and associates that are current or former business and franchise owners themselves, all play a part in our success. Franchise sellers also appreciate the fact that we are very discreet and strongly emphasize an honest one-on-one approach to listing and selling every business we work with; we never take on more business listings than we can properly devote our time to, or tell a franchise that we can do certain things for them that we don’t truly believe we can accomplish.
Most importantly, Atlantic Business Brokerage regularly achieves maximum sale market value for the franchised businesses we sell, and we do it in the timeliest manner possible with the most minimal interruption to a seller’s business operations.
Should I Even Be Considering Selling My Franchised Business?
All franchise business owners should continually be asking themselves this question, whether they own just one location or multiple units. Each franchise business owner has different goals they want to accomplish over time, and sometimes these goals change; some franchisees want to expand and grow operations, some need to sell for various reasons or simply want to retire or capitalize on their initial investment, while others just want to know the value of their business and what the future might hold. Regardless of your plans as a franchise owner, you should continuously be weighing your options, and the first step in that process is in knowing what your franchise business is worth.
What is My Franchised Business Worth?
Every business is different, including franchised businesses, and each franchise business has different value to different people. Obviously, there are several basic standards that are used to determine the value of a business, such as location, history, sales trends, profitability, cash flow, the physical condition of the business, whether you lease or own the space, and much more. There are also many market factors and other circumstances at play that can impact the worth of your particular franchise business.
Are you interested in finding out what your franchised business may be worth? If so, we can help. Contact us, and one of our experienced associates will assist you in determining the value of your specific business. Or, you can fill out our Business Evaluation Form, and we’ll get back to you promptly to discuss your business with you in more detail. As always, all consultations with us will be held in the strictest of confidence, are free of charge, and you are under no obligation to work with us should you not choose to utilize our service further.
Why Do I Need a Business Broker to Help Me Sell My Franchised Business?
You don’t…if you know what your franchise is worth, can locate serious and financially qualified buyers who meet with franchisor approval, can obtain a sale price you’d like to achieve, and are prepared to navigate all the hurdles involved with both selling a business and transferring a franchise. You can certainly attempt to sell your franchised business on your own, and the majority of our current and former franchise selling clients have initially taken a for-sale-by-owner approach, prior to contacting
Unless you have a lot of patience and have already procured the “perfect” buyer that meets all the required criteria required to consummate a transaction, most franchise owners will soon realize that attempting to sell their business on their own can be a very frustrating and unfruitful process; a process that often results in a less than desirable outcome. If it was simple and easy to sell your franchise, there would be no need for our company to even exist. Unfortunately, selling a franchise is frequently complicated and difficult without the help and experience that a company like Atlantic Business Brokerage can provide.
If and when you ever decide to sell your franchise by yourself, you’ll need to be prepared to accept the fact that you’re practically taking on a full-time job until your business is sold. Most franchise owners don’t even know where to begin. How do you figure out what your business is worth? By what means will you market your location without disrupting your day-to-day operations? Where do you find buyers who are both serious and qualified? What is required to obtain your franchisor’s approval? The list of initial questions and issues is endless, and that’s just the beginning of what can be an overwhelming sale process.
Won’t My Franchisor Help Me Sell My Business?
Your franchisor may assist you in some capacity, and should always complete a sale/transfer provided that you and your potential buyer have satisfied all of their requirements. However, many franchisors will not directly involve themselves with the sales process in any meaningful way.
A franchisor’s primary concern is improving and bettering their franchise system for the benefit of the franchise, and subsequently their franchisees. Seldom do franchisors have either the time or staff to devote to helping you sell your business or find a buyer for you. They also rarely understand all of the financial inner workings of your particular business, nor do they always have access to this information. Franchisors will explain anything to an approved purchaser regarding the franchise model as a whole and what expected costs should be, but they won’t provide the actual financial data of your existing business to a buyer in the light it should be shown; data that experienced and serious buyers want to know before committing to a purchase.
Franchisors wish to avoid any liability or conflict of interest when a franchise unit is for sale. They do not like to involve themselves in negotiations between a buyer and seller, nor assist with non-franchise related sale contracts & closing paperwork, provide legal or accounting advice to the parties concerned, and so forth. In essence, if you want to sell your franchise, your franchisor would prefer you make the process as easy and simple for them as possible, for example, you present them a buyer they approve of and they’ll authorize the transfer, provided you handle the rest of the sale process on your own.
Additionally, perhaps the most important reason that you should not be relying on your franchisor to help you sell your business is the fact that you are a franchisee looking to exit a location or the system entirely. Although franchisors generally wish to remain as impartial as possible during the sale process, the fact of the matter is you are leaving and someone else is taking over. No matter how good of a franchisee you have been in the past, the franchisor will, and should, always be most concerned about the present and future.
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