Sell a Business in Wenatchee, Washington

Selling a business in Wenatchee, Washington means pricing it on a normal week between apple picks, not on an Apple Blossom weekend. Wenatchee is in Chelan County. Downtown dining is on Mission Street. US-2 and US-97 carry fruit, cold storage, and trucks. Stemilt and the other tree-fruit houses, Confluence Health, and Wenatchee Valley College are the weekday employers. The Columbia River puts East Wenatchee in Douglas County, with a different clerk. Apple Blossom and a harvest Saturday at Pybus Public Market can fill a restaurant. Those weekends are not the pack year. Use a quiet week between picks, when Pybus is thin, as the week that has to cover payroll. If that week cannot cover a manager's wage, do not let Apple Blossom raise the price. Do not use a Seattle tech price. Do not use a Yakima hop price. Cashmere, Monitor, Malaga, Sunnyslope, and Leavenworth count only when the invoices name them.

An owner-operated business in Wenatchee, 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

Rocky Reach Dam is irrigation and power. The Wenatchee River moves water beside the Columbia. Pangborn Memorial Airport is a small field. A Mission Street dining room and a packing dock are different companies, even when both sit in Chelan County.

Warehouses with cold storage and controlled-atmosphere rooms, trucking on US-2 and US-97, and manufacturing tied to bins and orchard work can sell when a second person already runs the dock and the customers are more than one grower. Food-safety records, pack claims, and the name on the carton belong in the first review. One grower, or one apple variety, is too much of the year. A controlled-atmosphere room in Malaga is not a dining room on Mission Street. A truck that claims the whole valley and is really one East Wenatchee crew is a coverage story.

Medical practices transfer when other providers already see patients in Wenatchee or East Wenatchee, and those patients still book after the owner leaves. Read the medical practice guide before anyone prices a clinic like a packing house. Clinic supplies for a normal week are working capital.

Restaurants on Mission Street and in East Wenatchee need a week between picks already in the book. Year-round households, packing-house shifts, and Confluence Health staff are the steady customers. Read the restaurant guide before anyone treats Apple Blossom as a normal month.

HVAC and construction on Eastmont and Grant Road roofs are a Douglas County desk, not a Chelan County counter. Staffing that only works when the pick is on is a seasonal book. If the company uses H-2A crews, housing and compliance have to be in the records. A farm-labor license does not move because last year's crew knows the blocks.

East Wenatchee is Douglas County. A Chelan County license is not a Douglas County permit. Cashmere has its own packing, and Liberty Orchards there counts only when you already bill it. Monitor, Sunnyslope, and Malaga are different work. Include each one only when the invoices name it. Leavenworth counts only when the book already overlaps that visitor week. Buyers who already know Seattle, Yakima, Leavenworth, or Ellensburg still have to price this rent and these growers on their own. Seattle has Boeing, Amazon campuses, and South Lake Union. Yakima has hops and I-82. Leavenworth has a Bavarian visitor week and a Front Street Christmas. The Methow counts only when you already bill that drive.

What is seasonal and what holds all year

Apple Blossom, a clear September, and a harvest Saturday at Pybus Public Market fill sidewalks and dining rooms while they last. A powder day at Mission Ridge, a Stevens Pass closure that sends travelers into town, Ohme Gardens in April, Saddle Rock on a clear Saturday, and Lincoln Rock State Park on a river weekend can fill rooms too. A Leavenworth Christmas counts only if the book already reaches Front Street. Put those weeks on their own lines in two years of weekly sales, next to a quiet week between picks. A Tuesday between apple picks, when Pybus is thin, is the ordinary day inside that week. Name the grower share, the variety share, the East Wenatchee share, and the person who opens the dock.

A frost year or a light crop is not a normal year. Water and irrigation district changes belong in the same record. Ordinary weeks are the rest. The dock still runs when Pybus is thin. Read the service-business guide for a route.

Who buys a business here

A local owner who already staffs a shop or a dock in Chelan County is often the cleanest buyer. That person has made payroll between picks. Ask whether they are adding a location or replacing one.

A search fund or an independent sponsor fits when a second person already runs the day. That can be a cold-storage plant with a manager, a trucking company with more than one grower, or a clinic where other providers already see patients. The business has to operate when the founder is not the person opening the dock. A one-grower packing account is a poor fit. So is a restaurant that only works during Apple Blossom.

A strategic buyer fits when the route adds Cashmere, Malaga, or East Wenatchee stops the invoices already name. Buying a dock to claim Seattle, or to claim Yakima hops, does not create growers. Ask which contracts move, and which growers would still call the old owner.

Private equity belongs only when the company is large enough to price on adjusted EBITDA and the founder is not required at every dock, clinic door, and license. 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.

Leave the deal if you priced Wenatchee as South Lake Union, if you used a Yakima hop multiple, or if you wanted a Leavenworth visitor weekend on a Malaga cold room and never walked Mission Street between picks. Read how to sell your company confidentially before the first tour. A valley town hears a rumor quickly, especially during Apple Blossom. Read what to tell employees and customers before that tour becomes talk on the dock. The people who can run a quiet week are the same people Yakima, Ellensburg, and a job over Stevens Pass can hire away.

How the price is set

Owner-operated shops are priced on seller's discretionary earnings. That fits a dining room, a clinic the doctor still runs, 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. Skip that wage and the earnings are too high for a buyer to staff.

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 the dock, schedules the crew, and deals with the landlord is what moves a deal up the range. An Apple Blossom Saturday is not an add-back. A harvest weekend at Pybus stays in the year's sales. A Malaga cold room and a Mission Street dining room do not take the same multiple.

Adjusted EBITDA fits a multi-line packing group, a cold-storage company, or a clinic that already shows staff wages and more than one quiet week between picks. Near a $10 million price, that conversation commonly lands around 3x to 6x. Most businesses in Wenatchee, Washington are smaller than that. Keep a Mission Street counter on SDE.

The valuation guide is the national frame. A valuation here follows Chelan County growers, Mission Street rent, and a manager the dock 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 grower receivables, an open food-safety item, and a license that still lists one person.

How the buyer writes the check

An SBA 7(a) loan commonly caps at $5 million. It can fit a documented route, a multi-grower plant, or a shop near Mission Street when the manager wage is real and a quiet week between picks shows on the profit and loss. A one-grower packing book usually needs more buyer equity. So does a restaurant that only works during Apple Blossom. The SBA financing guide explains the national structure. It is not a loan approval, and it is not a promise that a Chelan County plant will clear.

A seller note fits when the hard part is a grower account, a cold-storage lease, or a license, or when the landlord still wants the founder's name. The note shares the risk that the transfer happens and the growers stay. It does not repair a lease that cannot be assigned. If a week between picks cannot pay the note, the note is too large.

An earn-out fits when one crop year, one grower, or one Apple Blossom 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 a named grower or sales in named weeks.

A handshake does not move a grower account, a Malaga cold-storage lease, or a county license. Have local counsel review those three before you set a closing date. Ask the landlord in writing whether the lease assigns and whether the rent changes. Ask what the buyer must do before Chelan County or Douglas County will treat them as the qualifier.

Working capital is the cash, parts, inventory, and receivables a normal week needs. Set the target on a midweek between picks, when Pybus is thin, and leave the owner's draw out of that target. Dock supplies, food for a dining room that still opens, clinic supplies for a Confluence Health week, and receivables from more than one grower belong in it. Inventory bought for Apple Blossom goes on its own line.

Mistakes buyers make in this town

Diligence often stalls because the buyer priced Chelan County as a Seattle satellite or priced the dock on a Yakima hop multiple. Rent, wages, and growers do not match those places. A Leavenworth visitor weekend fails the same way on a Malaga cold room.

The cold-storage lease in Malaga may not assign. One grower may be most of the year, and that grower may refuse consent. Water rights or an irrigation change may have been left out. H-2A housing may be missing. Food-safety or ammonia records for a cold plant may be incomplete. A Chelan County license may not cover a Douglas County crew, and the founder may be the only name on it. Use the sale-prep roadmap to separate pack weeks, blossom weeks, any frost year, and the two county clerks before a summary goes to buyers.

The person who can run a week between picks may already have taken work in Yakima, Ellensburg, or over Stevens Pass. A related-party lease, inventory left out of working capital, a franchise rule read too late, and one grower order treated as a customer list will reopen the price. So will a founder who is still the only name the landlord, the grower, or the license will accept.

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 growers make up the year. The blog holds the longer guides on valuation, financing, and diligence.

What to look at in a cold-storage plant, a medical practice, and a restaurant

Walk a cold-storage plant on a week between picks. List growers and varieties. Two growers are a business. One grower is a risk. Show a frost year beside a normal year. Name who is on the floor when Pybus is thin. Controlled-atmosphere rooms in Malaga stay with that plant. Food-safety papers have to transfer. Cherries and pears stay in the weeks the records already show.

For a medical practice, show the patient panel in Wenatchee and, if the bills name it, in East Wenatchee. Other providers have to already see those patients. Confluence Health is the local system. A clinic is not a packing account. A harvest Saturday is not the schedule.

For a restaurant on Mission Street, walk a week between picks and an Apple Blossom Saturday as two different days. Count packing shifts and Confluence Health staff apart from festival traffic. The lease has to be assignable in the city that signed it. Food for a quiet week is working capital. Food bought for a Pybus harvest Saturday is not.

Use the same split for trucking, manufacturing, HVAC, construction, and staffing. Write down which bank of the Columbia you bill. If H-2A housing is part of the company, show it. If one grower is a large share of the year, show the contract.

What to bring when you call

Bring two years of weekly sales, with an Apple Blossom week and a quiet week between picks both visible. Bring the lease, the customer list, and the name of the person who already runs an ordinary day. If a grower account still lists one person, bring that contract. If a Chelan County or Douglas County license still lists the owner, bring it and the steps required to change it. If Cashmere, Malaga, East Wenatchee, or Leavenworth is inside the asking price, bring the invoices that name them. If a frost year is in the record, bring that year too.

Start with a valuation, your industry page, or contact. Call (352) 515-0226. The ranges at the top of this page are a direction, not a quote. Bring the week that has to cover a manager's wage, and the name of the person who already runs that week.