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Where to start buying business abroad!

Where to start buying business abroad!

Tracey Jarvis Posts: 1	25/10/2009 11:24:01 Hi, we have been thinking about buying a bar/restaurant in the Alps. We have never run a business before, but have some relevant experience. We have seen a bar/restaurant that interests us it also has accomodation. I know I could raise the cash by selling my house but I just don't know where to start. Any advice out there?

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Stephen Wright Posts: 246	05/11/2009 21:52:59 Hi Tracy, as you have not identified the country this bar is in I shall assume it is an EU country and that you have a working knowledge of the language. The first person you should get on your side is a commercially aware lawyer from out of the immediate region. Alpine communities tend to be inward looking and everybody knows everybody else and tend to look after each other. So independent advice is essential. You then need to get on the ground and do some basic research. A seasonal trade of only four months leaves you needing help for the other 8. So you are looking for a location that gives access to all seasonal business. It therefore follows that you might find a location in a busy place near lots of hotels that take big groups. The basic research is sueful when you come to look at the books. Here is the second important person - the numbers man. Do not accept a few figures on a sheet of paper. You want the accounts used as the basis for paying profits tax and you also want to see a few years monthly or weekly turnover statements for the whole year. If not using an accountant you must be conscious that for valuing a business you have to include all the real costs of your own time. If after including a realistic cost for your own management time (90 to 100 hours a week) it is still making a good return on your investment then you in a good position to negotiate. But then you will go in and spend at least two days going through the original books of entry. if they will not show them walk away. if they are lost walk away. A little trick is to ask for the 4 quarters consumer tax (here VAT) and add them up/. It should give you the years numbers - how do they compare with the submissions. There is often differences that cannot be explained. Of course they will say the year end is not the same as tghe vat returns. This is not so as they require you to have your 4th vat period end on same date as the annual accounts are struck. Unless there is a long hand over the vendors will have left before you find the problems - so were they your problems of rose tinited glasses or are they more fundamental like undepinning the property at your expense? your source of funding is also important - try to match the mortgage source to the currency you will be operating in. remember the gbp to euro exchange rate has become crippling and all is just so much more over there. let that lot sink in and then come back with any follow up points. I will be glad to find time to help you in the numbers, if you need. Best wishes Stephen
Stephen Wright Posts: 246	05/11/2009 21:54:30 Sorry. I also forgot to mention that licensing is a requirement. It may suit you to do a BII course in the UK as the license permits you to be a barkeep anywhere in the EU. iof course a small conversionc ourse is best.

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Where to start buying business abroad!

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