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Round Lake, Lake County

Food Truck for Sale in Round Lake, Illinois

A food truck in Round Lake is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Gurnee — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide food trucks playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Round Lake file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.

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Round Lake market

Selling a food truck in Round Lake

A food truck in Round Lake is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Gurnee — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide food trucks playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Round Lake file.

Round Lake is a far-north Lake County village in the Chain O’Lakes orbit — rooftops, Route 134, and Metra, not a Gurnee interchange and not a North Shore downtown.

Buyer density drops as you leave I-94. Household services and small retail are the typical businesses. Seasonal lake recreation is a side story unless the P&L shows it. Neighboring Round Lake Beach and Grayslake are separate clerks — do not blur the village limits on the CIM.

Round Lake has about 18,289 residents in Lake County, inside the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Gurnee, Waukegan, Libertyville, Mundelein. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Gurnee is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.

Planning facts

Typical multiple
1.5x–2.5x SDE
Typical timeline
3–8 months
SBA eligible
Usually conventional
County
Lake County
Population
18,289
Metro
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Nearby comps
Gurnee, Waukegan, Libertyville, Mundelein
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
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Lake County demand

Collar-county demand

DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will, McHenry, Kendall, and neighboring collar shops sell on household density and the I-88, I-90, I-94, and I-55 corridors.

There is no Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Buyers still compare this suburb to the next one on the same highway.

Round Lake demand for food trucks is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 18,289 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.

Food Truck in Round Lake

What a Round Lake buyer will underwrite on this food truck

Food and liquor in Round Lake close on the lease and the local board as often as they close on prime cost. Lake County health and — if the room pours — local-control liquor are Round Lake clocks, not a statewide multiple. Neighbors already compare this room to Gurnee, Waukegan, Libertyville.

Food Trucks statewide typically plan around 1.5x–2.5x SDE and a 3–8 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Round Lake shop. Buyers here usually argue route/event contracts, vehicle condition, equipment, social media following.

Closing clock for this Round Lake file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: Chicago Mobile Food Vendor licenses (and the associated commissary and parking rules) are famously specific and do not automatically transfer with the truck title. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Round Lake application of it.

In a suburb like Round Lake, first-time entrepreneurs, chefs, restaurateurs are the names that usually appear on the NDA list. A buyer who will drive from Gurnee is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.

Buyer pool

Who buys a food truck in Round Lake

Split buyer pool: North Shore and Libertyville businesses attract SBA and strategics who want household income; Waukegan and industrial I-94 businesses attract operator and logistics buyers. Great Lakes Naval Station and tourism along the lake change seasonality for some retail and hospitality books.

Illustration: a single permitted truck working the West Loop and a suburban office park two days a week, commissary in a shared kitchen, seller cooking every service. Not a closed sale.

A food truck whose customers already sit in Gurnee, Waukegan, Libertyville, Mundelein is a larger business than one that stops at the Round Lake city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.

SDE recast

How a buyer will read the books on this Round Lake food truck

Food-truck recasts on repeat vending locations and contracted office parks, not a festival weekend. Add back owner-cook hours, then pull event-only spikes and any second truck that sat. Vehicle capex and commissary rent are not optional. A 1.5x–2.5x SDE band is planning language for a thin, operator-dependent asset — not a restaurant multiple.

Illustration only — not a quote for any Round Lake shop. A food truck whose tax return shows $49,000 of net profit is not worth $49,000 × a rumor multiple.

Add back the owner’s $38,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $9,000 of discretionary benefits, $0 of accepted one-time cost, and $12,500 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $13,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.

Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $95,000. At the planning range 1.5x–2.5x, enterprise value is $142,500 to $237,500. Mid-range 2.00x is $190,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Round Lake buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.

At 2.00 times $95,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $190,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.

SDE line items

  1. Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
  2. + Interest expense
  3. + Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
  4. + Depreciation and amortization
  5. + Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
  6. + Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
  7. + Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
  8. − Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
  9. = Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Round Lake food truck — not a quote
Net profit$49,000
Owner W-2$38,000
Benefits$9,000
One-time$0
Personal$12,500
Replacement labor (subtract)−$13,000
Recast SDE$95,000
Planning EV at 2.00x$190,000

Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for food trucks. Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.

Recast SDE—
Planning enterprise value—

Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.

Enter your annual Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus owner's salary and any personal expenses run through the business — to estimate a range.

$
1x 3.0x 8x
Estimated Value Range — to —

This is an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual value depends on lease terms, asset quality, customer concentration, and current market conditions. Request a professional valuation for a precise number.

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Lake County closing

Licenses and closing steps for a Round Lake sale

Lake County closings use state CBS-1 plus municipal licenses (Waukegan, Gurnee, Libertyville, and North Shore villages each differ). No Chicago 45-day notice unless you also have a Chicago location. Lake County health and contractor registrations are common diligence items for food and trades.

Chicago Mobile Food Vendor licenses (and the associated commissary and parking rules) are famously specific and do not automatically transfer with the truck title. Suburban and downstate towns each issue their own mobile-food permits. County health stickers sit on the truck and the commissary agreement. The truck title, fire suppression, and propane certifications are part of the license stack.

Labor and lease

What has to keep working on Monday after close in Round Lake

For a food truck in Round Lake, the first labor question is: Contracted weekday slots, not festival luck.

I-94 is the spine. Route density is real between Buffalo Grove and Gurnee and thinner toward the Wisconsin line. Leases in outlet and tourism corridors can be franchise- or landlord-controlled. Winter lake-effect operations matter for home services.

Lake mixes Fortune-campus remnants, naval payroll, and bedroom suburbs. Do not price a Waukegan industrial book like a Libertyville professional practice.

Diligence

What a serious food truck buyer will open

Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Contracted weekday slots, not festival luck; A transferable Chicago or municipal mobile license; Truck mechanical and suppression condition; Commissary that a buyer can keep; A concept that is not only the seller’s personality.

Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Round Lake business: Title, mileage, hood suppression, generator, and propane file; Commissary contract assignability and health stickers; Chicago or municipal mobile-food license transfer path; Standing office-park or brewery slots versus festival-only income; Social following that is the seller’s face versus the concept; Whether a second permitted truck is real capacity or a parts donor.

Sale steps

How to prepare a Round Lake food truck for sale

  1. Recast this Round Lake food truck. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Round Lake buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
  2. Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this food truck pull a permit or see a patient in Round Lake, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
  3. Tell the truth about the Round Lake trade area. Map customers against neighboring towns. Buyers will. A book that already covers those towns is larger than a book that stops at the Round Lake limit.
  4. Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Lake County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
  5. Calendar the notices that apply here. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
  6. Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois food trucks hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Round Lake file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
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