To use an agent or not?

[emmetgirl]

I don’t know if anyone has any insight into this. I own a cafe bar and am thinking of selling up maybe sometime next year. I’ve seen a few commercial agents who do the business equivalent of an estate agent and their fees are between 10 and 15%. That’s a lot of money!
I’m considering advertising the business myself to see if I can find a buyer without one. Has anyone done this? Did it work?

Why not try it yourself first and then consider using an Agent if it doesn't work?
They may have contacts you don't but I prefer only to outsource something I can't do myslef or if my time can be better spent on other things

I sold my business to my manager, is that possible for you? Otherwise, maybe contact other cafe owners in the first instance to see if they are thinking about expanding.

I’ve name changed for this. I’m a solicitor who acts on these sorts of transactions. When I talk to clients about agents I say they are mainly useful
for 2 things, 1. Finding a buyer- if you already know who your buyers are likely to be and can approach them yourselves then crack on and 2. Helping you maximise your sale price as the reality is it can be very difficult to do those negotiations yourself. Otherwise all the fluff about pushing a sale through is bollocks because if you instruct a decent solicitor that tips their job.

So in summary an agent can be good but there are a lot of cowboys out there, there is an entire industry who make their money cold calling smaller businesses and offering to help them find a buyer, there will be a relatively modest up front fee for “marketing” then a success fee- most never sell and make their money off the up front fee and do the minimum work - 15% is also bonkers and far too high.

Do you know how much money you are likely to get, as “gently” unless you are massively income generating and profitable, a chain, own the property etc a small cafe is unlikely to go for much and you don’t want to find yourself in the position of not making much and struggling to cover your costs. Alternatives may be looking for someone to take over the lease to defray your expenses with a modest amount for kit, stock etc.

Good luck.