Listing teardown · SaaS
Teardown: $55.3K Per Month Application Business in the Culinary Niche (Empire Flippers #97635)
Short answer: a first-pass read of a live public listing, asking $240,668: 0 red, 4 yellow and 6 green flags from the checker's rules. Every figure comes from the public listing page; nothing here has been verified with the seller.
How to read this. Flags are questions to answer, not findings. A red flag means the listing's own figures or text need an explanation before you spend money on diligence; it does not mean anything is wrong. Sellers often have good answers. Listing details can change after the date above.
Snapshot (as listed)
| Asking price | $240,668 |
|---|---|
| Stated multiple | 2.8× annual SDE |
| Average monthly revenue / profit | $55,311 / $7,163 |
| Latest month revenue / profit | $58,616 / $7,606 |
| Payback (ask ÷ monthly profit) | 33.6 months on the average; 30.1 months on the last 3 months |
| Reported margin | 13% |
| Age | about 64 months |
| Monetization | Application |
| Owner hours (seller-stated) | 5 a week |
| Top traffic channels | Organic Search 47%, Direct 38%, Organic Social 12% |
Red flags
- None from the listing's public data.
Yellow flags
- Volatile monthly profit (CV 0.73). Monthly profit ranged $-1,545–$15,388.
- Platforms the listing relies on or mentions: Apple App Store. Ask how much revenue and traffic depends on each, and whether there has been any past policy or algorithm impact.
- Customer/revenue concentration not disclosed.
- Generic reason for sale. The Seller would like to explore other opportunities.
Green flags
- The listing shows connected data providers: Stripe, Google Analytics. These reduce, but do not remove, the need to reconcile figures to bank deposits.
- About 64 months of operating history (first revenue 2021-06, per the listing).
- Last-3-month average profit $8,006 is 12% above the 12-month average.
- Marketplace-reported revenue trend +121% (profit trend +112%).
- Seller states about 5 hours a week of owner time (to confirm against the task list).
- Post-sale support is offered: The seller is willing to offer 60 days of email and phone support after the sale, including platform handover, introductions to partner stores and franchise contacts, guidance on the app and web dashboards, and assistance with Stripe migration and app store transfers.
Questions to ask the seller
- Explain the low months (refunds, annual-plan timing, one-off costs?).
- What would happen to revenue if Apple App Store changed its policy/API tomorrow? Any past incidents?
- What share of revenue comes from the top 1 and top 3 customers (or traffic/affiliate partners)?
- Why sell now, and what would you do with the business if it doesn't sell?
- Provide a month-by-month P&L for the last 24 months with every cost line.
- What exactly transfers (domains, code, accounts, trademarks, email lists, contractor relationships)?
- Has the business ever had a platform ban, penalty, chargeback spike or security incident?
What to verify
- Read-only Stripe (or billing) access, reconciled to bank deposits for 12–24 months
- MRR and churn rebuilt from the billing export (logo and revenue churn, new subscriptions per month)
- A month-by-month P&L with every cost line, including contractors, hosting and the owner's time
- Analytics and Search Console exports for the same 12 months as the listing's traffic figures
- Code, hosting and database walkthrough; who holds the keys; what the payment-account transfer involves
- Contractor agreements and IP assignment for code and content
Payback at the asking price: 33.6 months on the stated average profit, 42.0 months if profit is 20% lower, 56.0 months if 40% lower. This is arithmetic on the listing's figures, not a valuation or a bid suggestion.
Seller statements to check against evidence
Quoted from the listing. Each is a reasonable thing for a seller to say and worth confirming with documents.
- “The business has also experienced strong revenue growth over the past year.”
- “The business is highly passive, with the Seller dedicating approximately 5-10 hours per week to its operation.”
- “The applications were originally developed by the Seller's software agency but have required minimal recent maintenance or development, with ongoing technical expenses consisting primarily of hosting costs.”
- “This represents an attractive opportunity for Buyers seeking an established food technology platform in the Australian market, supported by a strong merchant network and organically acquired customer base, with meaningful potential for further geographic expansion both within Australia and internationally.”
Risks the listing itself discloses: Fluctuations in rankings in the Google Play Store and App Stores can impact traffic to the business. Due to constant changes in technology, competition, and the market as a whole, the software could lose relevancy.
Sources
- Empire Flippers listing #97635, public listing data read 13 October 2026.
- FirstPass red-flag rules, the 33 published rules used for the flags above.
Related
FirstPass Memo is independent and buyer-paid. Not affiliated with, paid by or endorsed by Empire Flippers or the seller. Informational screening only, not investment, legal, tax or valuation advice, and not an audit. Figures are the seller's and marketplace's, as listed on the date above. If you are the seller or broker and something here is out of date, email hello@firstpassmemo.com and we will correct it.