I had never heard of Pinkberry before (must not exist in this part of the country), but it is interesting to hear they seem to be in decline. I don't have the answers to all of bwall's questions, but I do have some of them and I appreciate the points made.
As to the financing question, I specifically asked for owner financing as we do not meet the minimum criteria for an SBA or bank loan on a business, nor do we have the required 20% to put down right now. Not to mention, usually when a seller offers financing it is a good thing, not bad. There is a lot of risk involved for the seller, so they want you to succeed. I would be much more skeptical of someone who only wants to take their chunk of cash and run..
I am also well aware that the summer sales will have to carry you through the winter, which is precisely why we plan on purchasing this in March or April, rather than right now. Why does he want to sell? I'm not exactly sure but I do know he is a full time military pilot, has kids, and owns 3 other franchises, so I imagine he wants to reclaim some of his free time.
I know this particular store has been in operation for around 10 years, though I'm not sure whether or not that speaks to future popularity and longevity. I think the biggest reason it has been successful is the traffic count on that road. It seems nearly anything built in that area does extremely well. I imagine another reason is that the only competition within a roughly 5 mile radius is a Cold Stone a mile or so up the road.