Selling your car wash can be stressful, overwhelming, and emotional. From the sales process itself to receiving your asking price, it can all seem like a minefield that you’re desperately trying to navigate. At Car Wash Advisory, we’ve helped dozens of car wash business owners successfully sell their businesses. Through this experience, we’ve gained the knowledge necessary to prepare our clients for selling their car wash to ensure the process goes as quickly and as smoothly as possible. In this post from the Car Wash Advisory blog, we’ll discuss some steps you should take when preparing to sell your car wash.
Before getting on the road to selling your car wash business, you need to first decide whether or not this is the right choice for you. Is selling your business something that you and your partners are ready to move forward with? Whether it’s financial reasons or an emotional connection to years of hard work, it can sometimes be challenging to come to terms with selling your business. Be sure to think long and hard about your decision, and to discuss the sale of the business with all interested parties.
Once you’ve decided that you are ready to sell your car wash business, you need to get all of the necessary information together. Before you even start discussions with a potential buyer, you need to get all of your operational and financial data on hand, which will help any buyer fully understand your business. Things that could be helpful to have on hand are:
• A profile of your business sites, including the opening date, the model of your car wash(es), lot size, length of the tunnel, type of equipment, point-of-sale system, amount of pay stations, and any other information that may be relevant to a potential buyer.
• Profit and loss statements from the last two years, as well as related information regarding your POS for each site over the same period.
• Yearly balance sheet & other financial statements
• Details of recent renovations or upgrades.
• Details regarding your property; whether it's owned or leased, and if leased, relevant details on terms and rent.
In order to leave a good first impression on potential buyers, you should take a look at your business in the shoes of a potential buyer. How does your car wash business look? Is it well kept, in fully operating order, clean, and trusted by the local community? By ensuring your car wash is in tip-top shape, you’re actively making it a more attractive opportunity for potential buyers.
It’s also important to be realistic about what your car wash has to offer as well. If a brand new car wash just went into business down the street, your potential buyers will want to know how you planned to deal with the competition. They’ll also consider this added competition when deciding on the purchase price. So, get your building painted, have the area landscaped, and ensure all your equipment is up to date before listing your car wash for sale.
When it comes to selling your car wash, you have to set realistic goals and expectations regarding the entire process. That means understanding that the process could take several months and that you may get less than what you’re asking for right off the bat. Once you’ve come to terms with those ideas, you should also consider that once a deal has been accepted, it could be another 90 days or more before it’s closed.
Most people are not versed enough in the areas of accounting, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, and all of the other areas of knowledge that are required to successfully oversee the sale of a business. That’s why it’s important to work with a team of people that are experienced in the sale of car washes. At Car Wash Advisory, our team of car wash M&A experts has helped countless car wash owners sell their car wash business without a hitch. Selling your car wash doesn’t have to be difficult when you work with those experienced in the process. Make the car wash sales process a breeze by choosing the experts at Car Wash Advisory.
At Car Wash Advisory, helping car wash business owners sell their business is what we do. With a team of experts in the car wash, finance, and M&A industries, we make the car wash sales process simple. If you’re ready to get started, contact us today online or over the phone and speak with one of our customer service representatives.
Car Wash Advisory is an M&A firm dedicated to serving the car wash industry. Contact us to learn more or to speak to a car wash broker.
The Definitive Quick Guide: Created and Written by Car Wash Advisory Team
The key reasons using an investment bank to sell your business during economic uncertainty is a strategic decision.
Several pieces of information are critical to selling your car wash business. These include:
Other, but less important things will inevitably be required and will come into play during your sale process, such as those listed below. Working with a car wash broker like Car Wash Advisory will help you get this information in order before you meet with any prospective buyers.
The Definitive Quick Guide: Created and Written by Car Wash Advisory Team
The key reasons using an investment bank to sell your business during economic uncertainty is a strategic decision.
