A newsagency can be a good business to buy. Some buyers want a simple, traditional operation. Others see a shop the current owner never evolved and want to create something fresh in it. Know which buyer you are before you look at a single listing, because the business you should buy depends on it.
Thinking about this, a question I am often asked is: what should I ask for when looking at a newsagency? The question itself shows how green many prospective buyers are. So before anything else, get your head around the newsagency business of today. Not the agency-focused model of the past. The businesses worth buying in 2026 make their money from gifts, cards, collectibles and other categories the owner chose, not from commissions someone else controls.
Then get into due diligence. Here is the data I suggest you request from the vendor or their representative:
- The accountant’s P&L for the last two years. The real P&L, not a spreadsheet created for the sale.
- A list of add-backs used to calculate the profit figure behind the asking price.
- Tax returns for the same two years, to cross-check the P&L where the business structure allows.
- Sales data reports from the POS software for the last two years. This is the key data for verifying the income claim.
- Sales reports from the lottery terminal, for the same reason.
- BAS forms to confirm the P&L data.
- A full inventory list showing purchase price and date last sold for every item, plus invoices you can randomly select and verify.
- A copy of the shop lease, and of any equipment or other leases you are expected to take on.
- A list of all forward orders placed on behalf of the business.
- A list of all employees: name, hourly rate, nature of employment, start date, accrued leave and accrued long service leave.
This is basic information any buyer needs to assess a business. A business for which it cannot be readily produced is not ready for sale. Walk away or wait.
Once you have the data, analyse it yourself. Get professional advice on the legals and the lease by all means, but do not outsource the decision about whether this is a good business. You are the one who will live with it.
To newsagents reading this who plan to sell one day: look at that list and ask how your business would present against it. The time to prepare your newsagency for sale is every day you are in it. I have said it here for years: every day is your payday. Run a smart, lean, profit-focused business and you get a good payday now and another when you sell, because the price you achieve will be based on what the business is making at the time, not on its potential. If a buyer has to do the turnaround, the buyer gets the reward.
I first shared a list like this more than 15 years ago. This is the latest refinement.