20 Businesses Sold in St. Johns in 2010

            Sales of businesses were up substantially in St. Johns County in 2010, but declined slightly in Duval County. Overall it was a good year for the sale of businesses in Northeast Florida, according to data compiled from the Business Brokers of Florida. The bulk of the sales were in Duval and St. Johns counties.

            Twenty-nine sales were reported by member brokers for Duval County, 20 for St. Johns County, four for Clay County and two for Flagler County. No sales were reported for Nassau or Baker Counties.

Business sales in Duval County totaled $4,557,200. Average sale price was $157,145. 

Types of businesses sold covered a wide range, including tax preparation services, medical and physical therapy practices, day care centers, restaurants and bars.

Average revenue per business sold was $385,284. Highest revenue reported for a sold business was $1,325,265.

There were two pure asset sales, in which the businesses had no revenue.

Average owner benefit was $91,282. Owner benefits combine the net profit of the business with depreciation, amortization and business expenses that benefit the owner, such as health insurance or the lease of a vehicle.

Almost half of the businesses sold for their asking price, and that is a good indicator of an improving business climate and evidence the businesses were appropriately priced to attract buyers.

Average time on the market for Duval County businesses was 177 days.

Business sales in St. Johns County totaled $2,346,861.  Average sale price was $117,343.

As with Duval County, a wide range of business types were sold.

Average revenue per business sold was $447,602, higher than in Duval County. Highest revenue for a sold business was $1,187,700 and there was only one pure asset sale.

Average owner benefit was $110,198, slightly higher than in Duval County.

Again, almost half of the businesses sold for their asking price.

Average time on the market for St. Johns County businesses was 195 days.

            Only four sales of businesses were reported for Clay County. Two of these were lawn care businesses and two were restaurants.

            This data does not include sales made between buyers and sellers without the assistance of a business broker.

 Across the broad range of businesses sold, it is difficult to glean a lot of information that is useful to a current business owner, but by zeroing in to a specific industry segment, you can learn a lot.  If, for instance, we looked at all pizza restaurants sold in Florida in the past year we find 19 sales. Here’s what we can learn.

·      Average revenue: $309,522.

·      Average sold price: $88,895.

·      Average owner benefit: $77,603.

·      Sold price as a percentage of revenue:  28.7%.

·      Average owner benefit as a percentage of sales: 25.2%.

·      Average sold price was 1.15 times the owner benefit.

·      Rent as a percentage of revenue averaged 11.4 percent.

·      Eight of the pizza businesses sold for their asking price.

·      The average sale was for 75.8 percent of the list price. 

·      Average time on the market was 199 days. 

These numbers vary a great deal across industry segments. For any area business owner I’ll be happy to run a customized report on your industry segment at no cost. Simply contact me at jonhhunt@bellsouth.net.

            Business Brokers of Florida is the largest organization of its kind in the country, with more than 800 members across the state.

            Jon Hunt is a senior associate with Florida Business Exchange. He is based in St. Augustine. He is the former general manager of The St. Augustine Record and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Florida Army National Guard In addition to holding a Florida Real Estate License he has series 6 and 65 investment licenses.