Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bradley Lum. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bradley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge to profitability in the restaurant industry is labor. Many restaurant managers do not know how to manage their labor correctly and that is because there are so many moving parts.

I have consulted a restaurant where three people were doing one persons job. In this particular case, it was because of inexperienced people which started with the owner. The owner had no restaurant experience and thought it was just creating a product, and selling it. When labor is involved, Parkinsons Law takes into effect causing time to run out and the task unfinished.

Bradley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started out as a technician in the 12 volt car audio industry. When the owner announced his retirement, I quickly put some money together and bough the business. I got addicted to running a business and started looking for other opportunities. A little hole in the wall restaurant with a for sale sign caught my eye. It was an asset sale and I thought, how hard can it be? Regardless what people say, it was not. I continued to open more restaurants and learned everything about the food business, including going to culinary school. Studying my P&L reports helped me evaluate my restaurants and I was able to sell my business at a fair market value.

I now use my past experience to help restauranteurs achieve their goals. My job is to generate maximum income whether the client wants to expand or sell their business.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I have bought many businesses and in fact is how I got into the restaurant business. Many of the restaurants I bought had owners that gave up or were burned out.

The first step is to find an agent that can handle the transaction. Because I have a real estate license, that person is usually me. This puts me in a spot because my license requires me to let the owners know the profit that I will make from the transaction.

I could fund the business by finding investors or getting a loan, however I was able to acquire these restaurants for a great price it was not necessary.

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

I have sold five of my own businesses and now I do it for my clients. Following an exit strategy is key. If you are starting a business or already have one, you MUST create an exit strategy. Failing to plan one is planning to fail and you will not get the dollar amount you want.