Buying a Business in Georgia: Where to Look and What to Watch Out For

Georgia has no shortage of business opportunities, at least judging by the number of businesses advertised for sale. Restaurants, hotels, cafés, guesthouses, farms and even established companies occasionally appear on the market, sometimes at prices that seem surprisingly affordable.

I recently came across several websites listing businesses for sale in Georgia. Some of the offers are genuinely interesting, particularly if you’ve been thinking about running your own business rather than starting something completely from scratch.

But there’s a considerable difference between finding an attractive listing and finding a business worth buying.

And in Georgia, I would be particularly careful about that difference.

Where to Find Businesses for Sale in Georgia

There are several local and international marketplaces worth browsing. They vary considerably in the types of businesses advertised, and some also list investment projects, commercial property and businesses looking for partners.

Local Georgian marketplaces

• BusinessForSale.ge — One of the more specialized Georgian platforms, with listings for restaurants, hotels, retail businesses, manufacturing operations, agricultural projects and other enterprises.
• MyBusiness.ge — Covers operating businesses, restaurants, shops, hotels, commercial property and businesses available for lease.
• BT.ge — A Georgian business brokerage and investment platform. Listings include operating businesses, manufacturing facilities, farms, commercial property and projects seeking investors.
• SS.ge — Primarily known for classified advertisements and real estate, but its commercial property section also includes businesses being sold without the premises.

International business marketplaces

• SMERGERS — An international marketplace with listings from Georgia, including entire businesses, partial ownership stakes and projects seeking investment.
• BusinessesForSale.com — A global business-for-sale platform with a dedicated Georgia section.
• DealStream — Another international marketplace featuring businesses and investment opportunities in Tbilisi and elsewhere in Georgia.

Don’t assume that a business advertised on several websites represents several different opportunities. Sellers and brokers sometimes publish the same property or company across multiple platforms.

Also, read the description carefully. A listing titled Business for Sale might actually be an empty building, a collection of equipment, a company with no meaningful activity or simply an idea that still needs investment.

Don’t Overlook Georgia’s Government Auctions

There is another source of opportunities that prospective investors may not immediately think about: government auctions.

Georgia sells state-owned property through electronic auctions, and some of these assets could be suitable for commercial use.

The main places to look are:

• eAuction.ge — Georgia’s nationwide electronic auction platform. Used for state property sales, as well as other public and private auctions. Depending on the available lots, you may find buildings, land, vehicles, machinery, equipment and other assets.
• National Agency of State Property — The government agency responsible for managing and privatizing state property.
• Privatization.ge — An official state-property privatization website referenced in Georgian legislation.
• Tbilisi Municipal Property Auctions — Tbilisi City Hall’s property auction portal, where municipal land, buildings and other assets may be offered for sale or use.

Government auctions are worth checking if you’re considering a warehouse, workshop, agricultural operation, commercial building or another business that requires substantial physical assets.

But there’s an important distinction here.

Buying a government-owned property is not the same as buying an operating business.

An old industrial building might be cheap because it needs major repairs. A former commercial facility might lack functioning utilities, usable access or the permits needed for your intended activity.

Some lots may also come with investment obligations or other conditions.

Before bidding, I’d check the cadastral records, ownership and encumbrances, zoning, permitted uses, physical condition and the exact auction terms. Pay particular attention to the required deposit, payment deadlines and any commitments imposed on the winning bidder.

Government ownership doesn’t automatically mean that a property is free from practical or legal complications.

Still, it’s an interesting alternative to traditional business listings, particularly for someone who is prepared to build a business around an acquired property or facility.

First, Why Is Someone Selling a Profitable Business?

This is the first question I’d ask about practically any business advertised for sale, whether in Georgia or elsewhere.

Think about it. If a business generates a healthy profit every month, requires relatively little effort and has a promising future, why would a sane person want to sell it?

Of course, there are legitimate reasons. People retire, relocate, divorce, fall out with business partners or simply grow tired of running a company. Some need money for another investment.

But I wouldn’t automatically accept any of those explanations without looking at the numbers.

A seller might describe a restaurant as fully operational, a hotel as well-established or a shop as having excellent growth potential. None of these descriptions tells you whether the business actually makes money.

Take one café advertised for sale in Vake, for example. The asking price was listed as 140,000 GEL, with monthly rent of 9,500 GEL. The advertisement described a renovated, operational café with equipment, branding and delivery-platform integration.

What it didn’t provide was a meaningful profit figure.

That’s not evidence that anything is wrong with the business. But with rent alone costing 114,000 GEL annually, I’d certainly want to examine the accounts before considering the purchase.

And that’s before salaries, utilities, ingredients, taxes, maintenance and the dozens of other expenses involved in keeping a café open.

The asking price is just a number someone has chosen. It doesn’t establish what the business is worth.

Buying the Business Is One Thing. Being Allowed to Run It Peacefully Is Another.

Something else worth considering, particularly for foreigners unfamiliar with Georgia, is the way business relationships work at the local level.

Georgia can be a relatively straightforward place to register a company. But running one successfully can depend on considerably more than registration documents, contracts and a good business plan.

Personal relationships, local competition and informal arrangements can sometimes matter as much as the formal rules.

And in certain places, there is another uncomfortable question: how will established local businesses react to someone new entering their market?

I have encountered this myself while working with tourists visiting Kazbegi.

One popular stop is Gergeti Trinity Church, overlooking Stepantsminda. Recently, we’ve experienced pressure from some local drivers who want tourists transferred from vehicles arriving from Tbilisi into their own Mitsubishi Delica vans for the final trip to the church.

The additional charge can be around 70 GEL.

Naturally, local drivers want to earn a living from the tourism industry in their area. That’s understandable. But for tour operators who have already arranged transportation for their customers, being pressured into paying for another vehicle creates an entirely different problem.

It can affect the price of a tour, the customer’s experience and the viability of the service.

Nor is this necessarily a foreigner-versus-local issue. I’ve heard similar complaints from people in Tbilisi who encounter difficulties doing business in Kazbegi.

In my own experience, expecting police intervention to resolve these kinds of disputes hasn’t been particularly reassuring either.

There can be a strong sense among certain operators that the mountains belong to them, and therefore the money tourists spend there should remain with them.

I understand wanting to protect local livelihoods. But there’s a difference between competing for customers and trying to decide who is allowed to do business in an area.

And my experience is hardly the only example.

The Polish Ski Instructor Who Ran Into Trouble in Gudauri

In January 2023, a dispute between local and foreign ski instructors in Gudauri made international news.

Among those affected was a Polish ski instructor who filmed his confrontations with local instructors and his attempts to get assistance from the police.

He had come to Gudauri to work as a ski instructor. According to the reporting, he had registered as an entrepreneur in Georgia, paid for a ski pass and rented accommodation.

Yet some local instructors apparently didn’t believe he should be allowed to earn money teaching tourists on their mountain.

His video showed people blocking access to the gondola. In one confrontation, a local instructor told him he could go up and ski alone, but couldn’t work there.

The Polish instructor also described being physically confronted by several men who grabbed him by his arm and jacket. He complained to nearby police officers, who directed him to criminal police.

According to his account, the subsequent response amounted to a promise of negotiations. He considered the whole process useless.

The incident was documented by Netgazeti and Sakartvelos Ambebi.

It wasn’t limited to one Polish instructor.

ABC Australia reported that foreign instructors, including Australians who had official permission to work, described intimidation, threats and being prevented from teaching clients. Some ski schools suspended lessons over safety concerns.

Georgia Today also reported on the dispute, including claims that instructors had been assaulted and that police protection had been inadequate.

To be fair, the background was complicated. Local instructors complained about growing competition, limited employment opportunities and the loss of income in a poor snow season. Some accounts also suggested that police involvement eventually helped calm the situation.

But none of that excuses threatening people or physically preventing them from carrying out lawful work.

What makes this story particularly relevant is that these weren’t people trying to take over an entire resort. They were instructors who had come to Georgia, registered their activities and wanted to make a living teaching customers who had chosen their services.

And still they encountered problems.

Now imagine buying a hotel, a guesthouse or an outdoor tourism business in a remote location, investing your savings and then discovering that an established group of competitors objects to you operating there.

You can’t simply pack up and leave once you’ve purchased the property.

The Chicken Farm I Considered Buying

I encountered a similar concern when looking into a completely different business: poultry farming.

At one point, I found a chicken farm for sale in Georgia. It was a bit overpriced, in my opinion, but the offer was interesting.

There was property, the facilities were already there, and the necessary equipment was included. My idea was fairly straightforward: purchase the farm, source live chickens from Turkey, arrange the necessary imports and start operating.

Of course, importing live poultry also requires veterinary and customs compliance. But from a business perspective, it looked like an existing operation that could potentially be put to work without building everything from zero.

Then I discussed the idea with Georgian friends.

Their warning wasn’t primarily about the price or the equipment.

They suggested I should think carefully about how people in the surrounding area might react if a foreign newcomer started making good money there.

Their concern was that I could eventually face pressure or hostility from people who considered the local market their own.

Was this guaranteed to happen? Absolutely not. I never purchased the farm, so I can’t claim that I personally encountered such problems there.

But the warning came from people familiar with the country, and I took it seriously.

Imagine investing substantial money in a poultry farm somewhere outside Borjomi, or another rural area. You’ve bought the property, arranged the equipment, brought in the livestock and started operating.

Then you discover that you have a dispute with neighboring operators, someone interferes with your access, or local relationships are more complicated than the seller ever mentioned.

What do you do?

Your investment is tied to the land and the buildings. You can’t move a poultry farm to another town overnight.

That uncertainty was enough to make me think twice.

A Roadside Café Near Sighnaghi and Alleged Extortion

Another story I heard involved local Azerbaijani businesspeople who were operating a café in a tourist area near Sighnaghi.

As the story was told to me, the café was doing reasonably well. Its location beside a road used by tourists helped attract passing customers, and the owners had managed to establish a functioning business.

The problem reportedly started when people described to me as local criminal elements began visiting the establishment.

According to the account I heard, the owners faced threats and pressure connected with money.

Whether these people were part of an organized criminal group, local troublemakers or something else, I don’t know. I haven’t independently verified the incident or reviewed any police records.

What stuck with me was the owners’ reported reasoning.

They supposedly decided that once they started paying people who were threatening them, the payments might never stop.

Rather than continue operating under those conditions, they chose to leave the business.

I was also told that attempts to obtain meaningful police assistance had not resolved their problems.

These business owners weren’t even newly arrived foreigners. They were local Azerbaijani residents born in Georgia.

That’s an important distinction. Difficulties involving local influence, competition or alleged extortion may not have much to do with nationality at all.

The story is secondhand, and I wouldn’t present it as a verified criminal case. But it’s exactly the sort of risk I would want to investigate before purchasing an unfamiliar roadside business.

If a seller suddenly wants to get rid of a profitable café, perhaps the problem isn’t the café itself.

Perhaps there’s a reason they no longer want to operate it.

A Farm in the Countryside? Talk to the Neighbors First.

These experiences have changed the way I look at business listings, particularly those outside Georgia’s major cities.

Imagine purchasing a farm in a rural community. The land is registered, the buildings look good, the seller provides financial statements and everything appears legitimate.

But what about access roads, water supply, grazing arrangements or longstanding disagreements with neighboring property owners?

Are the boundaries clear? Is the access road legally secured? Has the previous owner relied on informal agreements that might not continue once the business changes hands?

And perhaps more importantly, what kind of relationship does the existing business have with its neighbors and competitors?

In smaller communities, established relationships can be important. A newcomer who suddenly enters an existing market or expands an operation may encounter resistance from people whose livelihoods are connected to the same resources or customers.

This doesn’t mean every village is hostile to outsiders. Far from it. Good relationships with neighbors can become one of a business’s greatest advantages.

Nor do I think these problems are unique to Georgia. Local protectionism, intimidation and informal business arrangements exist in plenty of other countries.

But if you’re a foreigner considering investing your savings in a business somewhere in the Georgian countryside, it’s something worth investigating rather than dismissing.

Foreign buyers should also be aware that Georgia restricts foreign ownership of agricultural land, subject to specific legal exceptions. Buying a company connected to agricultural land doesn’t automatically eliminate those restrictions.

Before purchasing a farm, I would spend time in the area, speak with neighboring farmers and independent local residents, and find out how the business actually operates.

Not just during a scheduled visit with the seller, either.

Check the Numbers, Then Check Everything Else

Georgia has official resources that can help you investigate a business before committing money.

The National Agency of Public Registry provides access to business-registration information. You can use it to investigate the registered entity, its representatives and relevant registration history.

The Revenue Service also provides taxpayer-registration information, including certain tax statuses and registered restrictions.

These are useful starting points, but they cannot tell you whether a restaurant has enough customers or whether a guesthouse is profitable.

For that, I would want to see at least two or three years of financial records, bank statements, tax filings and verifiable sales figures, wherever available.

I’d also want to know:

• Does the business earn enough to pay its owner a reasonable salary, or is the advertised profit really compensation for working seven days a week?
• Is its income seasonal, especially in tourism-dependent locations?
• Does it rely on a particular supplier, employee, landlord or personal relationship?
• Can the lease actually be transferred to the buyer, and on what terms?
• Are there debts, outstanding legal disputes, unpaid wages or equipment that doesn’t belong to the seller?
• Would customers continue using the business after the previous owner leaves?
• Has the seller experienced disputes with neighboring businesses, suppliers, local residents or competitors?
• Have there been threats, intimidation, police complaints or other incidents that could affect the next owner?

I’d also spend time speaking to neighboring business owners, suppliers and people who aren’t financially involved in the sale.

And I wouldn’t rely solely on the seller’s explanation of why they’re leaving.

Another important distinction is whether you’re buying the company itself or only its assets. Acquiring shares in an existing company can mean inheriting its financial and legal history. Buying equipment, inventory and a brand is a different transaction.

Either way, I’d involve an independent Georgian lawyer and accountant rather than relying exclusively on professionals recommended by the seller.

If someone refuses to provide financial information, pressures you to pay a deposit immediately or insists that everything is based on trust, I’d consider that a good reason to walk away.

Don’t Confuse an Existing Business With a Sustainable One

Perhaps the biggest mistake is assuming that because a business has been operating for years, it will continue to do so profitably.

A small hotel could depend almost entirely on summer visitors. A restaurant might survive because the owner works there full-time without paying themselves a proper salary. A farm could rely on informal access to water or equipment belonging to relatives.

Or the previous owner could have relationships with people in the area that made the business possible in the first place.

Sometimes the business works precisely because of the person running it.

Remove that person, and what exactly are you buying?

A successful arrangement for one owner isn’t necessarily transferable to another.

I’d also be cautious about forecasts promising rapid growth. Georgia’s economy and tourism industry offer opportunities, but that doesn’t mean every small business is positioned to benefit from them.

Look at what the company earns today, not what the seller believes it could earn tomorrow.

Then consider what might happen if sales decline, rent increases, a major customer disappears or a local competitor decides to undercut you.

And consider what happens if the problem isn’t financial at all, but an operating environment that makes doing business unexpectedly difficult.

A business that only makes sense under ideal conditions is not much of an investment.

My Take: Browse the Listings, but Buy With Your Eyes Open

I still think these marketplaces are worth bookmarking. They offer a glimpse into a market that isn’t always easy to explore, particularly for people who don’t speak Georgian.

Government auctions make the search even more interesting. Sometimes the opportunity isn’t an existing business at all, but a property or facility that could become one.

You may find something genuinely worthwhile. There are certainly legitimate businesses whose owners have perfectly reasonable motivations for selling.

But I would approach every listing with a healthy dose of skepticism.

My own experiences in Kazbegi, the documented disputes involving ski instructors in Gudauri, and the stories I’ve heard about rural businesses have made me particularly cautious about investing in locations where I don’t understand the local relationships.

Most people just want to earn an honest living. But it only takes a few individuals willing to intimidate competitors to make an otherwise promising business difficult to operate.

And when you’re in a remote part of the country, with your savings tied up in a property or business, even a small group can create a very big problem.

Don’t limit your investigation to the asking price, financial statements and legal paperwork. Visit the location, observe how the business operates, talk to people who know the local market and try to understand what obstacles a new owner might face.

Most importantly, ask why the current owner wants out.

Because buying an existing business should mean acquiring something that already works, not paying someone else for the privilege of discovering why it doesn’t.

And in Georgia, as anywhere else, a profitable-looking business and a sustainable investment are not necessarily the same thing.