How to find and buy a readymade business in Canada?

Do you want to own a business in Canada? Buy it.
Unlike Ukraine, in Canada, the sphere of selling and buying a business is very well developed.
And if you want to start a small business, it's often easier to buy an unprofitable or troubled business and turn it into a profitable one.

In Canada, labor, construction, and equipment are very expensive. In addition, you need to understand how to make everything so that your location and kitchen met the requirements of health inspection. That is why often is easier to buy a business rather than to build it from scratch.

Where to start looking for a business?
Before understanding this process I was looking for business on some websites. I just googled “business for sale”, “restaurant for sale” and I’ve found up to 10 websites with relevant ads. But… it turned out that I can use just 2 places and have it all.

You need to find a realtor who specializes in buying and selling businesses.
In the MLS (multiple listing service) database, each realtor has the opportunity to make a search query for a business (or real estate) according to the criteria and subscribe you to it… I would recommend looking at all restaurants priced below your purchase limit. For example, so that you receive all new or updated offers worth $ 200,000 or less by mail. Often, businessmen put up a business at one price, and sell the business 2510 times cheaper than the original price. This is due to the fact that in a business that experiences losses, it is quite difficult to see the value. If you close such a business, the owner will lose everything. Therefore, it is better to sell a business for at least some money in order to recover part of the invested funds. Also in Canada, you cannot stop renting a business location at any time, because a tenant is obliged to pay rent till the end of the lease agreement. This is another factor that pushes a businessman to sell a business faster and cheaper.

Analyzing businesses
So… You have found 51020 interesting locations for sale. Look at businesses visually first so that you like the location and general characteristics. In one day you can drive 36 points. If you are interested in any location, ask the realtor to request detailed information. Usually, basic finances and a description of internal processes are provided upon signing the NDA. But I must say that real financial documentation is usually not shown even at this stage. You basically have to take the seller's word for it.

Writing an offer!
If you are interested in some business and you want to buy it, you need to make an offer with a realtor and send it to the seller’s realtor. From the moment the offer is accepted, the transaction process begins.
Important! Write in the offer at least 1 month for the transaction and write down the conditions for exiting the transaction so that you can cancel at any time without losing the deposit. The reason for the withdrawal may be: inconsistency of financial documentation or its absence before the offer was submitted, an uncomfortable lease agreement for the premises, the landlord's refusal to rent the premises to you. Yes, yes, my first business that I wanted to buy was not sold to me. The reason is that I had just arrived in Canada and the landlord thought I was not a trustworthy enough tenant.

Next, you need to say everything in detail, what the seller leaves and what he takes. To put it on paper.

Share or Asset sale?
There are 2 types of purchases: buying a company, when you buy a company with all its obligations, and when you buy the assets and make your own company. The second approach is of course much safer. You will not be responsible for liabilities, or errors in filing tax returns. But buying shares, you will not need to get most documents updated, such as business licence and other permits.

In my opinion, the most important thing when buying is understanding the shortcomings of the business, its weaknesses, which you can improve. After all, if everything in a business is perfect and beautiful, and it is unprofitable, then it will be extremely difficult to improve it. It will be easier to develop the business where you see a lot of issues for improvement.

Bargain to get a better price!

Final legal actions
Next, to buy a business, you will need to hire lawyers who will prepare documents for each party and pay a notary. In principle, these are already more formal steps that are needed so that none of the parties violates the agreements and everything goes legally.

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