0:00 Hi there. This is Matt Holland, and thanks so much for listening to the Aby Deal Room podcast. Will we highlight the most recent business listings that have been added to the Aby deal room for business sales, partnership sales, franchise sales, and new business opportunities?
0:13 Today we'll chat with Mark Carn, a partner with the Allbiz Deal Room in sunny Adelaide in South Australia. Mark is a seasoned business coach who has owned and operated numerous successful businesses.
0:24 He continues to coach clients today while assisting business owners looking to grow exit fine business partners and investors. Mark also happens to be our national manager.
0:33 Mark, welcome again. Can you tell me a little bit about this new listing of yours? The,  The business is called the Heritage Guest House Cafe and Restaurant, and it's in Bala, new South Wales, which is a couple of hours outta Canberra.
0:46 And the business has been going well over 20 years by, and was set up by the current owners. And it's in a very historic building that's, that's over 150 years old.
0:59 It was originally built for a bank. So the business consists of five room guest house, a, a restaurant, and there's a cafe, which is actually not operating that much at the moment.
1:10 Thanks for the intro, mark. And for those that don't know Bombala, it's an absolutely beautiful place, halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, between the Sapphire Coast and Snowy Mountains.
1:19 Mark who's running the day-to-day operations. Yep. A husband and wife couple have set it up and have run it for the last 20 years.
1:28 One of the owners has got some health problems. They used to own the freehold business themselves and sold that a few years ago.
1:35 Now they're looking to retire. They are local, so they're gonna be staying in the area. But now they're looking to pass this on, so it is their baby.
1:43 So they're looking for someone that really has a passion for the business and ke keep running it and improving it just as they have in over the last 20 years.
1:52 So, mark, what's the goal of the listing? Are they looking to partner with somebody or they looking to sell it outright?
1:57 No, they would like to sell it outright because of that. They're well over 70. They're at retirement age, they'd like to sell it outright, but they've certainly got a, a long handover.
2:06 They're available at all times to help new owners when they come in. So those sort of people that will help help someone for as long as it needs.
2:15 Okay. So I think it's fairly clear they're looking for an outright sale, but they'll offer a, an extended handover, which is really encouraging to anyone looking at this one.
2:23 So what's the price point? What's the investment here? We, we valued it at 270,000, however, you know that they used to own the freehold, so they've done very well out of the business.
2:34 So they're now offering it for 170,000 because of the wife's ill health. They would like to get new owners in that can then run it from there.
2:42 So it's very well valued at that price for 170,000. Alright. So the takeaway there is it's a five bedroom guest house, $170,000 lease hold, and you've got a cafe that's not really being utilized at the moment.
2:56 So a second business for the $170,000. That sounds like a, a fantastic deal. Mark, tell me a little bit about Covid.
3:04 I know it's well, and Charlie passed us now, but everybody is still asking how did that how did the businesses track through Covid and what's the impact going forward, if Any?
3:13 The business certainly was affected by Covid at, at stages. People couldn't travel to the town, so the guest house wasn't used as much.
3:22 They did close the cafe down. The restaurant has, has operated on and off, but due to Covid too, with couldn't have a lot of numbers in one room at one stage, there's certainly been affected.
3:33 So COVID has certainly had an effect. And of course, now we're coming outta Covid. So there's, there's growth potential there to really improve the business.
3:42 Thanks, mark. So you've been quite close to the owners and, and I guess looking at this business in a lot more detail, what do you see as some of the highlights of this business?
3:51 Well, certainly being in a a building that's over 150 years old it, it's very attractive building from the out, out outside.
4:01 It's in great condition. Having the restaurant, having the cafe that's not really operating, that's a great potential for new owners.
4:10 And just to be in a a, a town that's growing and doing well a lot of tourists come there. So it's got great potential for the future.
4:20 Mike, if I had to pick something particularly unique about this one other than the, the history and so on, is the fact that you've got a cafe there that's not being used.
4:28 And look, if I look at the, the traffic people are looking to buy businesses through the platform about 40% of people are still looking for food businesses.
4:37 Tell me a little bit about that opportunity. Yes, certainly. It is closed at the moment because the owner one of the owners was sick.
4:45 So there's to, to reopen that it's got huge potential for income growth. Plus they haven't done a lot of functions or weddings in the restaurant, which they have done in the past.
4:55 So there's, there's also a good opportunity there for new owners to, to, to get more functions and income that way.
5:03 Okay. Th this is actually getting better. So not only have we got a cafe that's not being utilized, we've got a function opportunity here or a function center.
5:10 Yeah, that's right. And you know, there's birthday parties, wedding anniversaries all those sorts of things, weddings, birthdays they can be that use there to be really grow the income only in food and in beverages sales.
5:29 So to summarize, we've got an opportunity that's already making money in the guest house. We've got a cafe that's not being utilized, and we've got a function center that could be opened up and not only for food, but for alcohol and beverage sales.
5:43 Great opportunity. What's the next step, mark? If somebody's interested, what should they do?  Yes. Well, we've got it advertised on the all biz deal room.
5:51 So they can go there and, and search it there. There's an information, comprehensive information memorandum with a lot more information on the business.
5:59 Or they can also contact myself, mark Kahn, at, at All Deal Room and I can forward additional information like financials and plant equipment schedule and those sorts of things, and answer any questions people might Have.
6:12 Thanks again, mark. Any closing thoughts on this one? Right, thank you. Yep. I think it's a great opportunity for younger, eager people who wanna retire or, or come to an nice town such as Bomba and, and make it their their hometown.
6:26 Thanks again, mark. Really appreciate your time and introduction to this new listing. Now, if you'd like to get in contact with Mark, it's mark.Kane@albysales.com.
6:35 If you'd like to search any of our listings, that's all biz deal room.com.au or all biz deal room.com for our international listings.
6:43 Thanks again for listening in. Excellent. So if you'd like to connect with Mark directly, that's mark.com, all biz sales.com regarding this particular listing or any of his other listings, or head to our all biz deal room site.
7:22 That's all biz deal room.com or.com au depending on your location, and search any of the listings. Thanks again for listening.