What exactly is business goodwill?

It is everything that makes a business run: the customer base, the brand, the lease rights, the equipment, the licenses. Buying the goodwill means taking over a running activity — the walls are not included and are negotiated separately.

How much does business goodwill cost?

It depends on the trade and the revenue. Practice uses a percentage of annual revenue: often 50 to 100% for food businesses, less for services. Location, lease and equipment condition then make the difference — two businesses with the same revenue can be worth double one another.

How to finance a goodwill purchase?

A 20 to 30% contribution, a professional loan for the balance, and public support: ACRE (reduced contributions), ARCE (unemployment benefits paid as capital), zero-interest honour loans. A solid forecast remains the key to convincing the bank.

Business goodwill in Calvados: the market

How many businesses change hands in Calvados, in which trades, and how large the pipeline is as owners retire. Public BODACC, SIRENE and INPI figures, updated monthly.

Goodwill sales (24 months)

1 240 goodwill sales in the department

Active establishments (22 tracked trades)

16 752 establishments in activity

Owners aged 60 and over

33,2% of owners — the pipeline of upcoming cessions

Goodwill by trade in Calvados

The stock of active establishments, trade by trade: this is where tomorrow's goodwill sales will come from. Open a trade for the takeover details in the department.

Trade	Active establishments (SIRENE)
restaurant	2 935
physiotherapy practice	1 768
fast-food outlet	1 492
general practice	1 366
nursing practice	1 315
hair salon	1 157
auto repair garage	1 116
beauty salon	1 025
bakery	765
café-bar	682
grocery store	643
taxi or private-hire business	492
dental practice	422
caterer	308
florist	293
pharmacy	248
butcher shop	229
dry cleaner	150
greengrocer	122
wine shop	109
fishmonger	75
tobacconist	40

How business goodwill is bought

The price is usually negotiated as a percentage of annual revenue, with a scale specific to each trade: around 60 to 110% of revenue for a bakery, 50 to 90% for a restaurant, 30 to 50% for a hair salon. The lease rights, equipment and customer base are part of the goodwill; the walls are negotiated separately.

On the financing side: the personal contribution usually covers 20 to 30% of the price, the rest goes through a professional loan. ACRE lightens your social contributions in the first year, unemployment benefits can be paid as capital (ARCE), and honour loans (Initiative France, Réseau Entreprendre) strengthen the bank file.

Which goodwill to target in Calvados?

Before signing, check the area: reachable population, real competition, local momentum. Our per-trade and per-town analyses give the public figures to position each opportunity.

FAQ

What exactly is business goodwill?: It is everything that makes a business run: the customer base, the brand, the lease rights, the equipment, the licenses. Buying the goodwill means taking over a running activity — the walls are not included and are negotiated separately.
How much does business goodwill cost?: It depends on the trade and the revenue. Practice uses a percentage of annual revenue: often 50 to 100% for food businesses, less for services. Location, lease and equipment condition then make the difference — two businesses with the same revenue can be worth double one another.
How to finance a goodwill purchase?: A 20 to 30% contribution, a professional loan for the balance, and public support: ACRE (reduced contributions), ARCE (unemployment benefits paid as capital), zero-interest honour loans. A solid forecast remains the key to convincing the bank.