Refer a buyer

For commercial appraisers

We send you Work. You send us buyers.

Refer a buyerHow a referral works
An appraiser looks up at the finished dining room as the owner sets down a plate in front of her

Every restaurant purchase we take on needs an AACI appraisal, and you often meet the buyer before a lender does. The buyer's loan comes from a bank or credit union, through the government-backed Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBFP). We don't lend. Send them to us and we build the rest of the file.

Start with one buyer.If the file goes the way it should, send us the next one.

Banks and credit unions we work with

  • RBC
  • TD
  • BMO
  • Scotiabank
  • CIBC
  • National Bank of Canada
  • Desjardins
  • Meridian
  • BDC

Why we work with appraisers

The appraisal anchors the loan.

A restaurant purchase does not reach a lender without your report. The rest of the file has to be built to the same standard.

  1. Introductions run both ways

    Our purchase files need AACI appraisals, so when we meet a buyer who does not have an appraiser yet, we can make the introduction. All ships rise together.

  2. Every purchase file needs you

    An asset purchase cannot go to a lender without an AACI appraisal, and the appraised value has to come in above the purchase price.

  3. A buyer who can close

    An appraisal is only useful if the buyer's financing lands. We build the rest of the file around your report: the plan, the model, the seller's financials and the lender match.

  4. No surprises in the report

    We walk the buyer through your replacement cost figure before the report lands, so nothing in it surprises them.

How a referral works

Point us at one buyer.

Send one. Judge us on the file.

What we will not do
Promise approval. That is the lender's call. Quote a timeline before we see the file. Go around you to your client.
What you can count on
A straight answer on the first call. A complete file for every buyer we take on. We don't contact your buyer until you say so.

  1. You point us at a buyer

    Their name and a line about the purchase. We do not reach out to them until you give us the go-ahead.

  2. We talk to them first

    On the first call we tell them if the deal can work and which lender fits. If it can't, we say so then, so nobody wastes time.

  3. They engage us directly

    Your buyer hires us and pays our fees. Our shared success compensation is only paid when they are funded. Where the lender allows it, both can come out of the loan.

  4. We build the file and see it through

    We write the plan, build the budget from real quotes, pick the lender and submit. After approval we manage the payouts until the money is in their account.

Refer a buyerBook a call with Adam

Brands we've worked with

Funded

Files we took all the way through.

Every application we've submitted has been funded. Over $10 million so far, and about 100 hours saved for each client.

Funded

TorontoTD

Toronto restaurant

A Toronto restaurant, funded with TD. We built the plan, the numbers and every document, and saw it through to funding.

Funded

Burlington, OntarioAsset purchase

Buying an existing restaurant

An asset purchase rather than a build, which means an appraisal, an inherited lease, and two years of the seller's statements and returns. Financed through a credit union.

Funded

OntarioCSBFP

Independent restaurant

Every document, the plan and the forecast, taken to Meridian and through three rounds of questions to approval.

Funded

OntarioCSBFP

Bar build

A ground-up bar, financed on projections rather than history, because there was no trading history for the location to lean on.

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On Instagram

Follow the funding.

@restaurantfinancingcanada
A chef plating a dish in a dimly lit kitchen

What each buyer gets

One package. About 100 hours of your client's time back.

  1. Written business plan, built for the bank rather than for a pitch
  2. Three-year financial forecast, with every assumption visible
  3. Executive summary in the language lenders use
  4. Market and competitor research for the restaurant's trade area
  5. A clear breakdown of where the money goes
  6. A check of which costs the program covers
  7. All your documents, gathered and followed up
  8. Lender match, and the submission itself
  9. We deal with the bank directly through to funding
  10. Changes until the bank has what it needs
Refer a buyer
Adam Gilbert

Who you deal with

I speak restaurant. I speak bank.

Hi, I'm Adam Gilbert. I've spent my career in the restaurant business, on the finance and marketing side. That includes senior marketing and finance roles at one of Canada's best known restaurant groups, through its sale to the country's largest full-service operator.

I run Sweet Sauce Hospitality Partners, and I am building my own restaurant concepts, so I am not advising from the sidelines. I know what a build really costs, and what the bank will ask before it asks.

A good business plan tells your story, then backs it up with numbers. It has to make the bank believe in your restaurant, and then prove it.

Let's get your buyers funded.

Questions

Questions from appraisers.

Straight answers to what appraisers ask first, starting with how the work runs both ways.

Refer a buyer
Do you lend the money?

No. The loan comes from a bank or credit union, through the Canada Small Business Financing Program, a Government of Canada program. The government guarantees a large share of the loan for the lender. We are a brokerage: we build the application, take it to the right lender and see it through to funding.

How much can my client borrow?

Most restaurant owners we work with qualify for between $200,000 and $500,000. The program limit is $500,000 for leasehold improvements, equipment and intangibles such as franchise fees, including up to $150,000 of working capital. If they are buying the building too, the limit is higher.

Do you refer appraisal work?

When a file needs it, yes. Every asset purchase we take on needs an AACI appraisal, and where the buyer does not already have an appraiser, we can make an introduction.

What if the appraisal comes in below the purchase price?

Then the deal has a structural problem that needs solving before a lender will go further. It is far better to find out early, while the price and the terms can still be discussed, than after the file has gone in.

Who is the client, me or the operator?

The operator you introduce. They engage us directly, the loan is theirs, and so are our fees: a project launch investment to start and shared success compensation that is only paid when they are funded. What they share with us about their finances is kept confidential, as it would be with any client.

Will you contact my client without asking me?

No. When you tell us about someone, we do not reach out until you give us the go-ahead. The introduction is yours to make.

What happens if my client is not a fit?

We tell them on the first call rather than taking their time or yours. Some things stop a file through this program, like personal taxes that have not been filed, and some need fixing first, like a lease too short to carry the loan. We would rather find them early than in front of the lender. Where a file can go ahead, the credit decision still belongs to the lender. Nobody can promise approval, and we do not.

Where do you work?

Across Canada. The CSBFP is a federal program and we work remotely, so where you are does not matter. We are based in Toronto and work with owners in the Greater Toronto Area, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City. Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City are handled in French or English.