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 Pas-de-Calais: the market

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

Goodwill sales (24 months)

1 239 goodwill sales in the department

Active establishments (22 tracked trades)

30 969 establishments in activity

Owners aged 60 and over

31,5% of owners — the pipeline of upcoming cessions

Goodwill by trade in Pas-de-Calais

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	4 263
nursing practice	3 890
physiotherapy practice	3 654
fast-food outlet	2 741
hair salon	2 687
beauty salon	2 237
general practice	1 967
auto repair garage	1 906
café-bar	1 316
bakery	1 177
grocery store	929
dental practice	851
florist	613
taxi or private-hire business	591
pharmacy	586
butcher shop	458
caterer	442
dry cleaner	185
tobacconist	157
wine shop	124
greengrocer	120
fishmonger	75

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 Pas-de-Calais?

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.