Question 1

How long does it take to sell a Melbourne cafe or hospitality business?

Accepted Answer

A well-presented hospitality business with clean books, a transferable lease, and a documented operation typically settles within four to seven months from signed mandate. The campaign itself runs four to ten weeks; the rest is preparation, due diligence, landlord consent, and contracts. Businesses we list before they are ready tend to sit on the market for nine to twelve months — the preparation either happens before launch, or it happens during, slowly and in front of buyers.

Question 2

How is the asking price set?

Accepted Answer

For most hospitality and boutique retail businesses, value is anchored to a multiple of normalised earnings — typically 1.5× to 3.5× depending on lease length, location, brand strength, staff continuity, and recurring revenue. We cross-check that multiple against recent comparable settlements and against the realistic financing a private buyer can secure. The number that matters is not the number you ask — it is the number that holds at contract.

Question 3

Will my staff, suppliers, or competitors find out the business is for sale?

Accepted Answer

No, unless we choose to tell them. Listings are released without identifying the venue. Buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement before they receive the Information Memorandum. Inspections are arranged outside trading hours where possible, or under a confidentiality framing where not. Your team learns of the sale at a time of your choosing — and from you, not from a Facebook post.

Question 4

Do I need to talk to my landlord before I list?

Accepted Answer

Almost always, yes. For cafe, restaurant, and retail sales the lease is the deal — and a short remaining term, an unfavourable rent review, or an unresolved make-good obligation will cost you buyers or buyers' banks. We coach you through the conversation with the landlord, often before mandate, so the lease that goes to market is the lease that closes the sale.

Question 5

What does Boston charge?

Accepted Answer

Our standard structure is a modest engagement fee on signed mandate, applied against a success-based commission paid only on settlement. The exact figures depend on the business, the campaign, and the work required to prepare the file. Nathan or the assigned director will set this out in writing before any agreement is signed — and there are no hidden costs added during the campaign.

Question 6

What is due diligence and when does it happen?

Accepted Answer

Due diligence is the buyer's formal verification of everything you have told them — financials, leases, contracts, staff entitlements, equipment, compliance. It happens after an offer is accepted and before the contract goes unconditional. Our preference is to surface and resolve every likely DD issue before the campaign begins, which is what the Boston Standard is built to do. The stronger the preparation, the cleaner the DD, the firmer the price.

Question 7

Can I keep using my own accountant and lawyer?

Accepted Answer

Yes — and we encourage it. We work alongside your existing professional team, not in place of them. Most files involve a triangle of broker, accountant, and solicitor, and the best deals close when all three are in step. We can introduce you to specialist advisers if you don't already have one, but the relationship stays yours.

Question 8

What is the next step if I am not ready to list yet?

Accepted Answer

Take the Boston Standard at /readiness/ — a two-minute readiness review that returns an on-screen result and a personalised PDF identifying the three or four things to lift before market. If you would prefer to speak directly, a confidential thirty-minute conversation with a director costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Most owner-operators talk to us six to eighteen months before they list. That is the right window.

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