How do I prepare my restaurant for the handover to a buyer?

Selling a restaurant does not end when the paperwork is signed. The buyer still has to cook dinner on Friday. How well you hand over what you know shapes how the first weeks go for them, for your staff and for the guests who keep coming back. Treat the handover as a project with its own list.

Put the kitchen on paper

Write down recipes, prep sheets, portion notes and the order in which the kitchen opens and closes. Ask your lawyer whether the recipes and menu names come with the sale, since that depends on the agreement. Add supplier contacts, delivery days and service technicians for the main equipment.

Tell the team well

Decide with the buyer and your lawyer when and how to tell staff. People worry about their jobs, and a clear, kind message helps keep the kitchen team in place. Then plan training shifts where the buyer works each station beside you, including a busy service.

Accounts and obligations

List the delivery-app, point-of-sale, payment, reservation and utility accounts, and decide how each moves. Prepare a list of outstanding gift cards and future reservations, and ask your accountant how they will be treated at closing. The answer on gift cards explains the issue.

Be reachable afterwards

Offer a period when the buyer can call with questions, and write it into the agreement. Agree how long it lasts and who the buyer calls.