Valuation estimator
What is your company worth to a buyer?
An indicative range in under a minute, using the multiples buyers of owner-managed companies actually pay, adjusted for growth and size. The working is shown, so you can see what moves the number.
Indicative enterprise value
$8.1M – $12.6M
4.5× EBITDA Midpoint $10.3M 7.0× EBITDA
- Sector range · Business services
- 5.0×–7.5×
- Growth adjustment
- ±0.0×
- Size adjustment
- −0.5×
- EBITDA margin · sector norm 15%
- 15.0%
- Same range as revenue multiple
- 0.68–1.05×
What we would do first
An exit-readiness review
Customer concentration and owner dependence are the two items that most often cost a full turn in due diligence — about $1.8M here. We would test for both in the first four weeks.
Indicative only, not advice or a formal valuation. Sector ranges × your reported EBITDA, adjusted for growth and size. A real valuation normalises earnings first.
The method, in full
Four steps, the same ones we start from before normalising earnings in a real valuation.
- Sector range. Each sector carries a low and high EV/EBITDA multiple for companies of $1M–$10M EBITDA.
- Growth. Your three-year growth band moves both ends of the range by up to two turns either way.
- Size. Buyers pay less for smaller earnings: half a turn off under $3M EBITDA, a full turn under $1M.
- Range. The adjusted multiples times your EBITDA give the enterprise value — before debt, cash and working-capital adjustments.
| Sector | EV / EBITDA | Typical margin |
|---|---|---|
| Business services | 5.0–7.5× | 15% |
| Software & SaaS | 8.0–13.0× | 20% |
| Manufacturing & engineering | 4.5–6.5× | 12% |
| Healthcare services | 6.0–9.0× | 16% |
| Distribution & wholesale | 4.0–6.0× | 8% |
| Construction & trades | 3.5–5.5× | 10% |
| Consumer brands | 5.5–9.0× | 14% |
| Hospitality & leisure | 4.0–6.0× | 12% |
Growth adjustments: Shrinking −1.0× · Flat −0.5× · Steady ±0.0× · Fast +1.0× · Very fast +2.0×.
Three questions about the number
- Why EBITDA and not profit?
- EBITDA strips out interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation — the things that change with ownership and financing. It is the figure most buyers of private companies multiply.
- Why is my range wider than I expected?
- Two companies in the same sector with the same EBITDA can sell three turns apart. Customer concentration, owner dependence, contracts and the quality of the numbers decide where you land.
- What is a “turn”?
- One times EBITDA. At $2M of EBITDA, a turn is $2M of price. Most of what an exit-readiness review does is defend, or add, turns.
Turn the range into a defended number
An exit-readiness review normalises your earnings, finds what a buyer would use against you, and gives you a valuation you can stand behind in a negotiation.
Or call +1 (212) 555-0142 — a partner answers.