How do I find a cupcake or cake shop for sale?

Cupcake and custom-cake shops are small businesses built around one or two skilled people. Many are never advertised, because the owner worries that regulars, staff or a nearby competitor will hear the news before the customers who have ordered for a wedding. That shapes the search. You will do better by using several words, several channels and some patience than by typing one phrase into one site.

Use the words owners use

Listings for this trade are filed under cupcake shop, cake shop, custom cakes, patisserie, dessert bar, bakery and sometimes café. Try each one, with and without your city. Save the searches and turn on alerts so new listings reach you. A home-based order business may be labelled as a food or catering business, so check those categories too and read each listing to see what is actually being sold.

Look past the listing sites

Brokers who handle food and retail businesses sometimes know of a sale before it is public. Ask whom a broker acts for and what the seller wants in a buyer. Talk to flour and packaging suppliers, wedding venues and event planners, who often hear when a baker is tired or moving. A short, respectful note to a shop you admire can start a conversation that never appears on a website.

Ask what the sale includes

With cake shops the name and the skill are not the same thing. Ask whether the sale includes the recipes, the social media accounts, the booking calendar, the customer list, the equipment and the lease. Ask whether the owner will stay on for a handover. If the owner does the decorating, find out how much of the business leaves when they do.

• Write down the cities you would work in and the size of operation you can run.
• Prepare a short buyer profile and proof of funds.
• Be ready to sign a confidentiality agreement before you see financial details.
• Line up an accountant and a lawyer before you make an offer.