What is my small business worth?
A free, instant estimate of what your US business is worth, built on your own numbers with the method shown rather than hidden. No signup, no email wall.
An opinion of value, and the certified valuation it is not
What you get here is closest to a broker opinion of value: fast, indicative, and genuinely useful for deciding whether to sell and at what price to start.
It is not a certified business valuation. When an SBA lender, the IRS or a court is involved, they require a credentialed valuation — CVA, ABV or ASA — prepared under USPAP, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. An opinion of value will not be accepted in its place, and submitting one wastes weeks.
Use this to decide. Commission the certified valuation when a third party has to rely on the number.
What gets measured: SDE, and where it stops applying
Main Street businesses in the United States are priced on seller’s discretionary earnings — EBITDA plus the owner’s compensation and benefits, the total cash an owner-operator takes out of the business.
Above the owner-operated tier, buyers switch to adjusted EBITDA, because they are buying a management team rather than a job. The crossover matters: the same business quoted on SDE and on EBITDA carries very different multiples, and quoting the wrong one makes a price look indefensible. The engine names the basis it used.
The reporting year
US businesses report on a fiscal year, calendar by default. If you see “financial year” in a document about your business, you are reading someone else’s market — the phrase is not American usage.
Buyers will want three years plus a current year-to-date, with the trailing twelve months reconciled to your tax returns.
Tax: the purchase price allocation is negotiated, and it moves your net
Most US small-business sales are asset sales. The purchase price is allocated across asset classes under Internal Revenue Code §1060, and both buyer and seller report that allocation on IRS Form 8594.
Because the classes are taxed differently — and because what is ordinary income to you is often a faster deduction for the buyer — the allocation is a negotiated economic term, not paperwork. Sellers who treat it as an afterthought give away real money at the closing table.
⚠ Your employees do not transfer automatically
There is no American equivalent of Britain’s TUPE. Employment is at-will, and the buyer makes a separate offer of employment to each person; nobody moves across by operation of law.
Larger transactions can trigger advance-notice duties under the WARN Act. Plan for the possibility that your key people have to be re-recruited by the buyer — and that a buyer will discount for the risk that they are not.
Who sells it for you, and what you will sign
A business broker handles Main Street transactions; an M&A advisor handles the mid-market. The peak body is the IBBA and its credential is the CBI.
The pre-offer document is a letter of intent; larger processes open with an indication of interest. Asset sales complete on an asset purchase agreement, share deals on a stock purchase agreement — American practice says “stock” where Britain says “shares”.
Common questions
Is this a certified valuation?
No. This is an instant opinion of value. A certified business valuation is prepared by a credentialed valuer (CVA, ABV or ASA) under USPAP, and that is what SBA lenders, the IRS and courts require.
Should my business be valued on SDE or EBITDA?
Owner-operated businesses are normally priced on seller’s discretionary earnings; larger, management-run businesses on adjusted EBITDA. The engine tells you which basis it applied and why.
What is a §1060 allocation and why does the buyer care?
It is how the purchase price is split across asset classes on IRS Form 8594. The classes are taxed differently for you and depreciate differently for the buyer, so the split is a negotiated term with real money in it.
Will my employees transfer with the sale?
Not automatically. US employment is at-will and the buyer makes a separate offer to each person. Large layoffs connected to a sale can trigger WARN Act notice duties.
What will an SBA lender require?
For most acquisition loans above the SBA’s threshold, an independent business valuation from a qualified source — not a broker opinion of value and not an automated estimate.
Sources
- IRS — About Form 8594, Asset Acquisition Statement
- US Small Business Administration
- US Department of Labor — WARN Act
- International Business Brokers Association
Every figure and rule on this page is attributed. Tax rates, reliefs and thresholds change — check the current position with the source or your own adviser before you act on it.