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Client Retention
Event planners and corporate clients may have relationship loyalty.
Seasonal Variability
Event bookings vary by season and economic conditions.
Staff Scalability
Event staff hiring and training needed for seasonal peaks.
Kitchen Facility
Commercial kitchen space and equipment are critical assets.
Catering companies sell on booked events, repeat corporate accounts, and a kitchen that can execute without the founder plating every tray. Buyers want a pipeline with deposits, not a calendar of last year’s highlights. A year that was three large weddings and a scramble is not the same business as weekly corporate lunches plus a documented Saturday crew.
On-premise vs drop-off vs full-service tent work are different labor models. If you also run a café or rental inventory, we draw a line around what is in the sale. Mixed hospitality businesses get mispriced when everything is dumped into one revenue number.
Commissary leases, health permits, and box trucks are straightforward. Preferred-vendor lists at venues are not. Some properties will keep you; some rebid the list every year; some are really a personal relationship with a coordinator. Buyers will call that out. So will we, before you go to market.
Menu costing and staffing ratios need to be written down. If only you know how many servers a 180-person plated dinner actually needs, the buyer is buying you, not a company.
Unearned event deposits are a liability. The purchase agreement has to say who honors which events and who keeps which deposits. We would rather schedule that in the letter of intent than argue about a Saturday wedding two weeks after close. A seller who will attend the first few large events is common. A seller who must stay a year to keep the venues is a different deal.
Catering finances on booked events with assignable contracts and a kitchen that can plate without the founder. SBA 7(a) is realistic when weekly corporate drop-off plus a documented Saturday crew support debt service after a real sales wage. Hall-based on-premise rooms underwrite closer to a venue. Off-premise tent work needs trucks, a commissary, and working capital for product before the event check clears.
Unearned deposits are a liability the purchase agreement has to allocate. Lenders haircut a year that was three huge weddings and a scramble, and they will not treat a preferred-vendor handshake as recurring revenue. Seller notes and a short consulting period on the first large events are common. An earn-out that only works if you stay as chef-coordinator is a signal the book is not transferable yet.
Caterers who want the corporate pipeline, restaurant groups that need an off-premise crew, and venue operators who already have the hall and want the kitchen. A planner stepping into ownership can close if deposits assign and a lead cook stays. They struggle if every menu lives in your head and every venue is a personal relationship.
Request a confidential consult or call (352) 515-0226. We will tell you whether a sale is realistic before you go to market.