Sell a Business in Sequim, Washington

Selling a business in Sequim, Washington means pricing a quiet January week on Washington Street, not a lavender festival Saturday. Sequim is in Clallam County, in the Olympic rain shadow. Washington Street is downtown. US-101 runs through the town. Carlsborg and Blyn are first-ring places with their own rooftops. Agnew belongs when the same owner already bills that route. Diamond Point belongs only when the invoice already names it. Do not publish either as its own page. A buyer who prices Washington Street as a cheaper Port Angeles, with the Coho ramp and the mill waterfront, is using the wrong customers. Hurricane Ridge is not Dungeness Spit. A buyer who wants a Port Townsend Victorian rent, or a Bremerton navy wage, is in the wrong city. A lavender weekend, a Dungeness Spit Saturday, and a retiree move-in month can fill a sidewalk. Use a quiet week in January, when the u-pick buses are gone and the farms are between seasons, as the week that has to cover payroll. If January cannot cover a manager's wage, do not let those weekends raise the price.

An owner-operated business in Sequim, Washington often sells for about 2x to 3.5x seller's discretionary earnings after a real manager wage. If a lead already runs the day, the price is often 2.5x to 4.5x SDE. A managed company is often priced on adjusted EBITDA, commonly about 3x to 6x near a $10 million price. Those ranges are not a quote. Call (352) 515-0226.

This page is not legal, tax, or lending advice. Bridge Point Advisors is a national firm, not a Florida-only practice. The firm works from Spring Hill, Florida.

What the local economy looks like

Shops in Sequim serve Clallam County, traffic on US-101, and nearby places only when the invoices name them. A restaurant, a coffee shop, a retail door, and a gift shop on Washington Street need a January week in the record, a midweek when the u-pick buses are thin. A dining room that fills only because a lavender Saturday filled the sidewalk is one weekend. Dungeness Spit and the refuge are recreation. A spit Saturday can fill some rooms. It is not the year.

Medical practices near Olympic Medical Center keep recare that does not wait on a festival. The book transfers when a second lead already opens and patients still call when the physician is off. A suite that lives on one festival year, or one retiree move-in month, is concentration. See the medical practice guide.

HVAC, construction, and landscaping on rooftops in Sequim, Carlsborg, and Blyn need a second lead who already opens. Recurring service repeats. A one-phase farm fit-out, or a single Washington Street renovation, is one job. Include Carlsborg, Blyn, Agnew, or Diamond Point only when the bills name them, because each place has its own rent. A Carlsborg license is not a Sequim city receipt. Blyn adds a clerk and a different US-101 mix. Read the restaurant guide for a dining room and the service-business guide for a route.

Washington licenses follow their own rules. A license from Port Angeles is not a Sequim qualifier. A Jefferson County license from Port Townsend is not a Washington Street receipt. A Kitsap ticket from Bremerton is not a farm-stand badge. A Seattle occupational license that never named Sequim is not this suite. Name the clerks you invoice. The City of Sequim and Clallam County remain separate clerks. People who can run the shop may already be looking at Port Angeles pay to the west or a Bremerton offer to the east. US-101 and the Hood Canal Bridge explain where they can go. They do not copy a Coho week, a Fort Worden week, or a navy-yard week onto Washington Street.

What is seasonal and what holds all year

A lavender festival Saturday fills sidewalks while the u-pick buses are in town. A Dungeness Spit day and a retiree move-in month can do the same. Put those weeks on their own lines in two years of weekly sales, with a festival week next to a quiet January week. Name the lavender share, the spit share, and the person who opens when Washington Street is quiet.

Ordinary weeks are the rest of the record. A Washington Street room that still covers in January, a coffee shop with a lead who is not the founder, a medical suite with recare beyond one physician, and a Carlsborg HVAC or landscaping route with a second tech continue when the farms are between seasons. A single festival, a single farm stand, or a single wildlife weekend that is a large share of revenue is concentration. The rain shadow is an operating fact. It is not a reason to import a ferry rent. Do not add a Port Angeles Saturday that never landed on this sidewalk.

Who buys a business here

A local owner who already staffed a quiet January on Washington Street is often the cleanest buyer. That person has made payroll when the u-pick buses are gone.

A search fund or an independent sponsor fits when a second person already runs the day. That can be a medical book with a manager or a multi-crew trade route with more than one rain-shadow year in the file. A one-festival farm stand, or a single-season spit shop, is a poor fit.

A strategic buyer fits when the route adds a Carlsborg rooftop or a Blyn landscape book the buyer does not already run, and only when those invoices exist. Buying the name of the peninsula does not create customers.

Private equity belongs only when the company is large enough to price on adjusted EBITDA and the founder is not required at every farm stand and medical suite. Most shops here are smaller than that. The management test is why a large buyer walks when the work still follows one person. M&A advisory fits a managed group. It is the wrong tool for a single counter that still needs the owner on the floor.

Leave the deal if you priced Washington Street as cheaper Port Angeles, or if you wanted Port Townsend's Water Street. A Bremerton buyer who wanted a navy wage this town does not pay is in the wrong city. A visitor who treats one lavender Saturday as twelve months is using one weekend as the year. A buyer who treats Dungeness as Hurricane Ridge is using the wrong recreation. Read how to sell your company confidentially before the first tour. A small street hears a rumor quickly. Read what to tell employees and customers before that tour becomes talk on Washington Street. The people who can run the shop are the same people Port Angeles and Bremerton can hire away.

How the price is set

Owner-operated shops are priced on seller's discretionary earnings. That fits a dining room, a retail door, a gift counter, a coffee shop, and most trade crews. Add back owner pay and personal costs that are truly personal. Then subtract a real wage for the person who will run the shop after the owner leaves.

After that wage, an owner-operated shop often sits around 2x to 3.5x SDE. If a lead already runs the day, the range is often 2.5x to 4.5x SDE. The person who opens on a January week is what moves a deal up the range. A lavender weekend is not an add-back. A spit Saturday and a move-in month stay in the year's sales. Do not treat one farm stand as a full customer list.

Adjusted EBITDA fits a multi-suite medical book or a diversified construction group that already shows staff wages and more than one rain-shadow year. Near a $10 million price, that conversation commonly lands around 3x to 6x. Most businesses in Sequim, Washington are smaller than that.

The valuation guide is the national frame. A valuation here follows Clallam County customers, Washington Street rent, and a manager the shop can hire. Compare offers that are not all cash in the offer comparison guide. Cash, a seller note, an earn-out, and working capital are different promises. Holdbacks belong on receivable quality, an open farm-stand item, and a license that still lists one person. A Washington Street shop and a Carlsborg route have different rents.

How the buyer writes the check

An SBA 7(a) loan commonly caps at $5 million. It can fit a documented trade route, a medical book, or a shop with more than one customer when the manager wage is real and a quiet January shows on the profit and loss. A single-festival farm book, or a single-season spit shop, usually needs more buyer equity. The SBA financing guide explains the national structure. It is not a loan approval, and it is not a promise that a Clallam County shop will clear.

A seller note fits when the hard part is a farm-stand assignment or the Washington Street lease, or when the landlord still wants the founder's name. The note shares the risk that the transfer happens and the customers stay. It does not repair an assignment a Clallam clerk will not accept. If a January week cannot pay the note, the note is too large.

An earn-out fits when one festival year or one spit season is a large share of the year. Pay the extra money only if that revenue continues. Write the measure in plain numbers, such as revenue from named festival weeks or sales in named spit weeks.

A handshake does not move a farm assignment, a Washington Street lease, or a Washington license. Have local counsel review those before you set a closing date. Ask the landlord in writing whether the lease assigns and whether the rent changes. If the founder is still the only name the farm stand will take, that assignment belongs in the first week of diligence.

Working capital is the cash, food, parts, plants, inventory, and receivables a normal January week needs. Set the target on a midweek when Washington Street is quiet and the u-pick buses are gone, and leave the owner's draw out of that target. Parts for a Carlsborg route, food a dining room still uses, and a receivable from more than one recare or trade account belong in it.

Mistakes buyers make in this town

Diligence often stalls because the buyer priced Washington Street as a cheaper First Street satellite of Port Angeles. Rent, wages, and customers do not match Port Angeles, Port Townsend, or Bremerton.

The Washington Street lease may not assign, or the landlord may want a new term and a higher rent. One festival may be most of the year. The license may stay in the seller's name. Use the sale-prep roadmap to separate rain-shadow weeks, lavender weeks, Dungeness weeks, and neighborhood routes before a summary goes to buyers. Prepare two years of weekly sales that include a January midweek when the festival is thin and a week when the farms are between seasons.

The person who can run a quiet January may already have taken a job toward Port Angeles or across the Hood Canal. A seller stay can cover introductions. It does not replace a manager. If the founder is still the only name the farm stand or the medical suite will carry, the buyer is buying a person. A number built for a Coho buyer would underpay a documented route and still fail the Clallam clerk. A ninety-day handshake does not replace a manager who already held a January week.

Sellers can start at the sell-side overview, the industry index, or contact. Buyers can start at buyers, review listings, and sign an NDA before they see which weekends make up the year. The blog holds the longer guides on valuation, financing, and diligence.

What to look at in a restaurant, a medical practice, and a landscaping route

Walk a Washington Street restaurant on a January weekday. Ask who eats there when the lavender buses are gone, whether the lease assigns, and whether the same crew can open. A festival Saturday can fill every seat. A coffee counter follows the same test. Resident traffic is the week. A u-pick bus is not.

For a medical practice near Olympic Medical Center, look at recare that continues when the physician is off. A second provider should already be on the schedule. A move-in month and a festival month belong on their own lines. Patients have to call the practice after the founder leaves.

For a landscaping or HVAC route in Carlsborg or Blyn, separate a Washington Street call from a rooftop whose clerk is not Sequim's. Check the Washington license and the parts, or the plants, a normal January week needs. Recurring service is the work that repeats. A one-phase farm restoration is one job. A second lead should already be opening.

Use the same split for retail, a gift shop, and construction. Write down the places you bill. Walk Blyn or Agnew only when the invoices already name them. Diamond Point belongs only when an invoice names it. If one account is a large share of the year, show the contract. If the building is the business, say whether the rent changes when the seller is no longer the tenant.

What to bring when you call

Bring two years of weekly sales, with a lavender week and a quiet January week both visible. Include a week when the farms are between seasons. Bring the Washington Street lease, the customer list, and the name of the person who already runs an ordinary day. If a farm stand or a license still lists the owner, bring it and the steps required to change it. If Carlsborg, Blyn, Agnew, or Diamond Point are inside the asking price, bring the invoices that name them.

Start with a valuation, your industry page, or contact. Call (352) 515-0226. Bring the week that has to cover a manager's wage, and the name of the person who already runs that week.