You want it sold. You still have homes on the floor. A grandchild is coming. The way through is someone licensed, a quiet process, and you staying on the tools until the keys change hands.
I cannot take this on as your broker. Capacity, and I am not a licensed ACT business agent. What I can do is show you the path, leave you the documents, and step back. That is the honest version, and it is still useful.
What you already have
The warehouse in Queanbeyan, the Hino, the stock, and agents who already ring you. That is a saleable thing. It is not a website, and it is not a story about being bigger than the owner. On Friday you said the agents are tied to you. Believe that. The sale is the stock, the truck, and three months of you introducing the next person.
Hold these numbers in your head
They come from your own pack. A broker will ask about them on day one, so it is better you hear them in this room first.
| You are asking | $500,000 |
|---|---|
| A busy year looked like | $494,880 income in FY2024 |
| Last year looked like | $349,411 income, a reported loss, about $26,000 once you add back depreciation and similar items |
| The furniture on the books | about $416,000 at cost |
| On the floor now | 19 homes. You said you could dress about 30 if the mix of older and newer houses is right. |
A $500,000 ask does not sit on last year’s earnings. It sits on the cost of replacing that warehouse. Staging businesses in Sydney and Melbourne have often been advertised at or below the furniture. A good broker will not pretend otherwise. They will take $500,000 as your opening number and help you land somewhere a buyer will actually write a cheque. Recouping what you spent is a fair family goal. Whether the market meets it is the conversation you have with the broker, in private, before anyone else is in the room.
The path, in five rooms
Walk them in order. Do not skip to a public advertisement. Do not rebuild Instagram. Do not wait until the diary is empty.
- This week Keep taking jobs. An empty warehouse is harder to sell than a full one. The grandchild is the reason you are leaving, not a reason to switch the lights off.
- This week as well Appoint someone licensed. A business broker who already sells this kind of file — Finn, LINK, or a local ACT business agent. You hand them two documents: a brief for them, and the information memorandum for buyers. They run confidentiality, viewings and negotiation. You stay on the truck.
- Before they go out Fix two boring things. Ask whoever looks after the website whether the domain can still be renewed — the company name on the registry is out of date. Book the accountant about tax on a retirement sale, before anyone talks settlement. The 15-year exemption is unlikely. Other small-business relief may apply. That is their job, not mine.
- About four quiet weeks Let the broker work a short list. Same teaser, same week, to other Canberra stylists who already have a shed. No SEEK ad with your name on it. If agents hear you are retiring before a buyer is locked, the phone goes quiet and the sofas still have to move.
- After a contract You do the one thing only you can do. Ring Independent, Blackshaw, and the rest. Tell them you are retiring, you have someone you trust, and you would like them to try two jobs with the new owner. Stay up to three months. Then go to Brisbane.
If a broker is not the first call
It should be. You were clear you do not want to sell this yourselves. If for some reason a broker will not take the file, this is the order I would still use. Best at the top.
- 1Licensed broker. Best. Someone else sells it. You keep working.
- 2Broker plus your own solicitor on the contract. Slightly more cost. Cleaner when the buyer is another stylist haggling over the lease.
- 3Solicitor sends a quiet teaser to named locals. Only if brokers decline. Someone still has to chase replies.
- 4Sell the warehouse as a lot to one competitor. Faster. Often closer to what the furniture is actually worth.
- 5List it yourselves, or wind it down. Least. A public ad while homes are out tells every agent you are going. Do not start here.
What a successful sale looks like from the kitchen
Not a story in the paper. A quiet contract. The 19 homes still going out. You on the phone to the two main agencies after the papers are signed. Settlement that does not dump every collection on one Friday. Then you are in Brisbane, and someone else has the keys to the shed.
That is a good outcome. Chasing a headline number until October is not.
Four things this week
- Agree that a licensed broker sells it, not you and not me.
- Call Finn, LINK, or a local ACT business agent. Send them the broker brief and the information memorandum when those are approved.
- Ask about the domain. Book the accountant.
- Keep the jobs on.
Documents for the next step
Once you are happy with them, send both files to the broker you appoint. The broker brief is private; the information memorandum is the purchaser document.
Open the broker brief in Word · Open the broker brief as PDF
Open the purchaser information memorandum in Word · Open the purchaser information memorandum as PDF