Buying A Restaurant – Important Considerations

For many people in the United States, buying a restaurant is a common “first business” and there are thousands of such businesses in every average city in the country. When it comes to restaurants in Miami, the variety of cuisines and pricing is immense, and the industry is perfect for the entire family to become active in a restaurant business.

However, as any business veteran will tell you, a restaurant is an extremely difficult business to operate and maintain, requiring very long hours of hard work and a careful review of the market and the potential of the restaurant before investing significant money in it. Starting a restaurant business from scratch is even more difficult as it requires the purchase of the thousands of tools and items every successful restaurant must have; from silverware to cooking utensils, from napkins to tablecloths, and much more. For that reason, most business people go for the option of buying a restaurant that already exists rather than starting a new one, though they often alter the business to fit their goals and taste.

Performing Due Diligence before Buying a Restaurant

When buying a restaurant or any other business, you must always keep in mind that if you are buying it, then someone else is selling it, and there must be a reason why the seller wants to sell the business. It is crucial for any potential buyer of a business to find out that reason and confirm it in order to determine if buying the business actually makes sense and will be a beneficial investment. There are many cases where buyers skip over due diligence and end up buying the problems from which the seller was trying to getaway.

The investigation on whether a particular restaurant is worth buying is a crucial part of starting your own business and should never be rushed no matter how nice the restaurant looks at first glance or how much pressure there is to “buy it right now.” Due diligence is a slow, detail-oriented process; you must carefully and diligently review the history, records, and operations of the business before you even consider making an offer. In essence, when buying a restaurant, you must make sure the facts given to you by the seller are true and the restaurant does not have any hidden problems that might give you a headache or two later on.

Buying a restaurant is not an easy decision. As with every investment, it is not free of risk. Most restaurants in Florida fail within three years after commencing operations. A restaurant is a high-risk business, which is why you must carefully investigate every aspect of a restaurant before even deciding to buy it. The help of an experienced Florida Business Attorney is crucial during this part of the process.

Quite often, buyers intend to radically alter the restaurants they purchase and all they care about are the hard assets and think they do not need to know about the restaurant’s history. DO NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE.

Buying a restaurant and changing it to look new or different does not mean the old restaurant ceases to exist completely. Generally, most of the issues faced by the old business will still be present in the new restaurant; this is when the information gathered in your investigation comes into play. You must consider the restaurant’s history when making drastic changes to your new business.

If you do your job of careful investigation and planning now, you may avoid problems in the future that could lead to you trying to get out of a business that is simply not successful.

Hire a Business Attorney to Help You

As you might have noticed, buying a restaurant is not free of complexities. Luckily, you do not have to do it alone.

If you are planning to buy a restaurant or any other business, you are going to need advice and assistance from competent Business Attorneys in order to determine whether purchasing the business is a smart move for you and make sure the purchase agreement protects you.

At Jurado & Farshchian, P.L., you will find the right attorney for your case. Call us today at (305) 921-0440 or send us an email to [email protected] to get started.

We can help you buy and maintain a successful restaurant. Get in touch to learn how.