[hnick]

By saying the brand itself has value, aren't you saying that if the owner gets into debt and has to sell it off to someone else it'll be just as good? That wouldn't give you pause?

In many cases small businesses derive most of their quality from the actual owner. They don't respond well to drop-in replacements of key staff members and owners.

[AnimalMuppet]

Well, in the case of toothpaste, it's not a small company. The restaurant... yeah, if they changed owners and blew up what I like about the place, that would kind of stink.

Or, the new owner could be better than the old. That could happen, too.

Either way, it wouldn't be the same... unless they hired back the key players.

[hnick]

Yeah it's a bit tough for some small businesses. Anything related to style (cake decorating, floral arrangements, graphic design, sign writing, etc) or other subjective tastes will often have a brand which has value with current customers but will easily lose it if someone else takes over. Even if the work is still solid, it can alienate existing customers.