A small business’s value typically comes down to a multiple of its earnings, usually Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE) for smaller operations or EBITDA for larger ones.

Most small businesses sell for around 2 to 4 times SDE, though this varies widely by industry, growth trends, customer concentration, and how dependent the business is on the owner.

Common valuation methods include:

• SDE multiple: typical for businesses under $1M in revenue
• EBITDA multiple: common for larger, more established companies
• Asset-based valuation: useful when tangible assets drive value
• Market comparables: based on recent sales of similar businesses

According to data from BizBuySell, the median sale price for small businesses in recent years has hovered around $300,000 to $350,000, though this varies enormously by sector.