Business valuation calculator.
A free business valuation calculator for owner-operated businesses. Build your seller’s discretionary earnings, pick your industry, and see an estimated sale range in seconds. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Your business
Use your most recent full year. Round numbers are fine.
This calculator uses illustrative starting multiples drawn from common market practice for owner-operated businesses, adjusted for the factors buyers weigh most. It is a rough guide, not an appraisal, an offer, or a quote, and actual sale prices vary widely with financial quality, lease and contract terms, the buyer pool, and deal structure. Inputs stay in your browser and are not sent anywhere. For a defensible number, request a confidential opinion of value built from your actual financials.
How this business valuation calculator works
Most owner-operated businesses sell for a multiple of seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE): the total cash benefit the business produces for one full-time owner. The calculator builds your SDE from four numbers, starts from a typical multiple range for your industry, and then moves within that range based on what buyers and lenders actually pay more or less for: growth, owner dependence, recurring revenue, customer concentration, and clean books.
Illustrative starting ranges by industry
These are starting points for owner-operated businesses, before adjustments. Businesses earning more than roughly $1 million a year are usually priced on EBITDA at higher multiples.
| Industry | Typical SDE multiple |
|---|---|
| Home services (HVAC, plumbing, pest control, electrical) | 2.5x to 4x |
| Landscaping and lawn care | 2x to 3.5x |
| Restaurant or food service | 1.5x to 2.75x |
| Convenience store or gas station | 2x to 3.5x |
| Automotive repair or tire shop | 2x to 3.25x |
| Healthcare or dental practice | 2.5x to 4.5x |
| Construction and specialty trades | 2x to 3.5x |
| Manufacturing | 3x to 4.5x |
| Wholesale and distribution | 2.5x to 4x |
| Trucking, logistics, and warehousing | 2x to 3.5x |
| Beauty, salon, or med spa | 1.75x to 3x |
| Retail store | 1.75x to 3x |
| Car wash | 2.5x to 4x |
| Laundromat | 2.5x to 4x |
| Childcare or daycare center | 2x to 3.5x |
| Software or online business | 3x to 5x |
| Other service business | 2x to 3.5x |
What moves your number most
Two businesses with identical earnings can sell for very different prices. Clean books that match your tax returns, a team that runs the business without you, recurring or contracted revenue, and a diversified customer base all push the multiple up. Declining revenue, heavy owner dependence, a short lease, and unreported income push it down. Our guide on preparing your business to sell covers the fixes that pay off most, and why businesses don’t sell covers the traps.
From estimate to a real number
A calculator cannot read your lease, your customer contracts, or your books. A confidential opinion of value from Delta Brokers can: every valuation is underwritten on our own Underridge platform, with each figure traced to its source, and you get the range, the reasoning, and the risks a buyer is likely to raise. It is free and confidential, and nobody learns you asked.