United States guides

How much is my business worth?

For most U.S. small businesses, value is a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE); above roughly $2 million in price, buyers typically switch to a multiple of EBITDA. Current median multiples run from about 2.0x for the smallest businesses up to about 4.0x for larger ones, and the actual number depends heavily on owner dependence, revenue quality, and documentation.

By the bizflip team · Published 29 August 2026 · Facts checked 29 August 2026 · Sources listed below

Business valuation isn't one number — it's a method applied to your numbers. For most U.S. small businesses, that method is a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE). Once a business clears roughly $2 million in likely sale price, buyers typically switch to a multiple of EBITDA instead. This guide walks through which basis applies to your business, the multiple ranges buyers are actually paying in 2026, what pushes a multiple up or down, and why the add-backs in your numbers matter as much as the multiple itself.

SDE or EBITDA: which one applies to your business

Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) starts with the business's net profit and adds back the owner's salary, owner perks run through the business, one-time or non-recurring costs, interest, and non-cash charges like depreciation. The result is meant to show the total cash benefit available to one owner-operator — including whatever they pay themselves.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) does not add back owner compensation. It assumes the business pays a market-rate manager to run it, which only makes sense once the business is large enough to support that role separate from the owner.

Industry survey data draws the line at around $2 million in purchase price. Deals under about $2 million are priced as a multiple of SDE; deals from roughly $2 million up to $50 million are priced as a multiple of EBITDA. Most listings on a marketplace like bizflip, and most owner-operated businesses generally, fall on the SDE side of that line.

What multiples are businesses actually selling for

Two U.S. surveys track closed transactions each quarter and publish median multiples. Treat both as a starting range, not a formula — your business's actual multiple depends on the factors in the next section.

Deal size (enterprise value)BasisMedian multiple, Q1 2026
Under $500,000SDE2.0x
$500,000 – $1,000,000SDE2.8x
$1,000,000 – $2,000,000SDE3.0x
$2,000,000 – $5,000,000EBITDA4.0x
$5,000,000 – $50,000,000EBITDA4.0x

Separately, BizBuySell's quarterly survey of Main Street transactions puts the median sale price for small businesses that changed hands in the second quarter of 2026 at $349,250, on an average cash-flow multiple of roughly 2.7x. That figure blends every industry and business size in the survey, so it's a market-wide reference point, not a substitute for a multiple matched to your own size and sector.

What moves a multiple up or down

Within any size band, the multiple a specific business commands can vary widely. Buyers and their lenders weigh several things:

The IRS takes a similar facts-and-circumstances view for valuations done for tax purposes: its long-standing guidance on valuing closely held stock, Revenue Ruling 59-60, explicitly rejects a single formula and instead lists factors — the business's history, its earning capacity, its financial condition, and comparable sales among them — to be weighed based on the specific business. A sale-price multiple and a tax valuation aren't the same exercise, but the underlying idea is the same: no single number applies to every business in an industry.

Why add-backs matter as much as the multiple

SDE and EBITDA are calculated by starting with reported net profit and adding items back. Get the add-backs wrong and the multiple is being applied to the wrong number, no matter how accurate the multiple is.

Common add-backs include the owner's salary and payroll to family members who don't actually work in the business, personal expenses run through the business (a vehicle, phone, travel), one-time legal or moving costs, and non-cash depreciation and amortization. Each of these should be documented and each should be a cost the new owner genuinely won't carry forward — a one-time expense that's likely to recur under new ownership isn't a legitimate add-back.

Lenders and buyers scrutinize this list closely, and some categories are routinely disallowed or discounted — meals and entertainment, ordinary vehicle costs, and undocumented personal expenses are common examples. If the deal involves SBA financing, this matters even more directly: under SBA rules for 7(a) change-of-ownership loans, once the goodwill or intangible portion of the price exceeds $250,000, or the buyer and seller are related, the lender must obtain an independent valuation from a credentialed appraiser rather than doing the math in-house.

On the tax side, once a price is agreed, the buyer and seller allocate it across asset classes — including goodwill — on IRS Form 8594, filed by both parties. How that allocation is split affects the seller's tax treatment and the buyer's future depreciation, and the IRS matches the two filings, so the allocation is usually negotiated as part of the deal rather than left until after closing. That's a question for your accountant or tax adviser, since the right allocation depends on your specific situation.

For a free, no-signup starting estimate based on your own numbers, bizflip's valuation calculator at /valuation applies a multiple method to your SDE or EBITDA and discloses its methodology. It's a starting point, not a substitute for negotiation once a real buyer is at the table.

Getting from an estimate to a listing price

A defensible asking price usually starts with SDE or EBITDA calculated from at least two to three years of financials, a multiple drawn from recent comparable sales in your size band and industry, and an honest look at the factors above — owner dependence and revenue concentration especially. From there, most owners get a second opinion: a broker's opinion of value, a formal appraisal, or both, particularly if the sale will involve SBA financing or a price above roughly $1 million. Listing a business for sale on bizflip is free, and a listing can be built around either an SDE or EBITDA basis depending on the size of the business.

The multiple ranges above are medians across many transactions and change from quarter to quarter as deal volume and buyer demand shift. Use them to sanity-check an estimate, not as a fixed price — and check any tax or financing question specific to your business with your accountant, attorney, or lender before you set an asking price.

Sources

Every load-bearing claim in this guide, and where it comes from:

Ready for your own number? The valuation calculator is free and ungated, and its methodology is public.