The Blog

Business Valuation

Name: Ryan C. Winter, Business Broker
Address: 12574 Flagler Center Blvd #101, Jacksonville, FL, 32258, US
Telephone: +1-904-789-1276
Rating: 5

Plain-English explanations of how businesses are valued in Northeast Florida. Learn about SDE multiples, asset-based valuation, market comparables, and what drives your business value up or down.

Florida Business Sales Market Report (2026): What Businesses Are Actually Selling For

Ryan C. Winter on July 16, 2026 Updated October 4, 2026

Business owners ask me the same question in different costumes: what are businesses like mine actually selling for right now? Most of the answers online are either national averages with no Florida context or broker marketing with no numbers at all. This report is my attempt to fix that: the current data on Florida business sales, what it means for Northeast Florida owners specifically, and what I am seeing on the ground in deals. I will update it as new data is released.

I’m Ryan C. Winter, a licensed business broker with Truforte Business Group, based in St. Augustine and working with owners across Florida. Figures below come from published industry sources, principally the BizBuySell Insight Report and Business Brokers of Florida, and I flag my own observations as exactly that.

The Headline Numbers

Florida brokers closed over $900 million in business sales in 2025, per Business Brokers of Florida, up about 5 percent from 2024 and the second consecutive year approaching a billion dollars in statewide deal volume.
The national median sale price is holding around $350,000, per BizBuySell’s most recent quarterly Insight Report, roughly flat year over year.
The businesses themselves are healthier: median cash flow of sold businesses grew about 3 percent to roughly $165,000, and median revenue rose to about $713,000.
Broker sentiment is bullish: in the same report, nearly two thirds of surveyed brokers expect deal volume to increase over the next six months.

What the Numbers Mean in Plain English

Three storylines sit inside that data. First, quality is being rewarded and weakness is being discounted: the reports describe intense buyer competition pushing multiples up for strong, well-documented businesses while softer demand meets leveraged or messy ones. The gap between a prepared business and an unprepared one has rarely priced wider. Second, flat median prices with rising cash flow means buyers are paying the same money for more earnings, which is the market quietly demanding proof. Third, Florida keeps punching above its weight: a state broker association closing nearly a billion dollars a year through its cooperative BBF listing system reflects buyer migration the rest of the country does not enjoy.

The Northeast Florida View

What I see in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and the surrounding counties tracks the state data with local color. Buyer inquiries in Northeast Florida skew heavily toward home services, healthcare-adjacent businesses, and anything with contract or recurring revenue, and SBA-financed individual buyers remain the dominant buyer type for main street deals, which makes clean tax returns the price of admission. St. Johns County’s population growth keeps pulling in relocating buyers with real capital, and the businesses that struggle to sell here are the same ones that struggle everywhere: owner-dependent operations with informal books. If that describes yours, the honest news is that the fix is knowable and worth real money; start with making your business more sellable in 12 months.

What Multiples Look Like Right Now

Multiples are ranges, not prices, and the range depends on earnings quality more than industry gossip suggests. As working guides in the current market: most Florida main street businesses trade on a multiple of seller’s discretionary earnings, recurring-revenue service companies earn the strongest prices, restaurants and retail typically price lower, and businesses above roughly a million dollars in earnings step into a different buyer pool with EBITDA-based pricing. My guides to earnings multiples and Florida valuation unpack the mechanics, and the free calculator gives you a starting range in three minutes.

Is It a Good Time to Sell a Business in Florida?

For prepared businesses, this is a genuinely strong market: buyer demand is deep, Florida deal volume is at historic levels, lenders are active, and most brokers surveyed expect more volume ahead. For unprepared businesses, the same market is unforgiving, because buyers have choices. The practical takeaway is not “sell now” or “wait”; it is that preparation, not timing, is the variable you control. That is the honest version of the answer, and it is the same one I give owners who call me directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average sale price of a small business in Florida?

National data puts the median sold price around $350,000, and Florida’s mix runs similar for main street deals, with wide variation by industry and earnings. Florida brokers collectively closed over $900 million in sales in 2025 across every size band.

How long does it take to sell a business in this market?

Six to ten months remains the realistic range for most Florida businesses, faster for well-priced, clean-books listings in demand categories. My full answer is in how long it takes to sell a business in Florida.

Where does this data come from?

Published sources: BizBuySell’s quarterly Insight Reports, which track closed transactions nationally, and Business Brokers of Florida, the statewide cooperative whose members report closed deal volume. Local observations are my own from active Northeast Florida deal work.

Want Your Number, Not the Median?

Medians describe markets; they do not price your business. For a free, confidential opinion of value grounded in current Florida comparables, call (904) 789-1276 or start with the free valuation calculator.

The Best Free Business Valuation Calculators, Reviewed by a Florida Business Broker

Ryan C. Winter on July 16, 2026

Type “business valuation calculator” into Google and you will find dozens of free tools promising to tell you what your business is worth in minutes. Some are genuinely useful starting points. Some exist purely to harvest your email. And all of them, including mine, share limits that nobody publishing a calculator likes to admit.

I’m Ryan C. Winter, a licensed business broker with Truforte Business Group, based in St. Augustine and working with owners across Florida. Full disclosure: I publish one of the calculators reviewed below, so I have skin in this game. That is exactly why this review tells you what each tool does well, what it cannot do, and when you should ignore every calculator on this list.

What Any Free Calculator Can and Cannot Do

Every credible small business valuation starts from the same math: a measure of earnings, usually seller’s discretionary earnings, multiplied by a market multiple for your industry and size. A good calculator automates that math honestly. What no calculator can do is verify your add-backs, judge owner dependency, weigh customer concentration, read your lease, or know what buyers paid for businesses like yours in your county last quarter. That is why every tool below, mine included, produces a starting range, not a price.

The Calculators, Reviewed

BizBuySell Valuation Tool

Best data foundation. BizBuySell’s tool draws on the largest database of actual business-for-sale transactions in the country, which gives its industry benchmarks real substance. Reports are inexpensive rather than free at full depth, and the tool leans on asking and sold prices from its own marketplace. The honest caveat: marketplace comps skew toward the kinds of businesses that list publicly, and the tool cannot interrogate your add-backs. Still, if you want a second opinion grounded in transaction data, this is the strongest independent option.

CalcXML Business Valuation Calculator

Simplest, most conservative. CalcXML’s tool is a general financial calculator: it takes annual earnings, adjusts for excess compensation and a risk level you choose, and discounts accordingly. It is genuinely free, requires no email, and is useful for understanding how risk assumptions move value. The limit: it is industry-blind. A pool route and a manufacturer with identical earnings get similar treatment, which is not how buyers price businesses.

ExitAdviser Valuation Tool

Best for growth stories. ExitAdviser uses a discounted cash flow approach: you enter your latest net profit and a sales growth forecast, and it projects value from future cash flows. That makes it more sophisticated than multiple-based tools for growing businesses, and more sensitive to optimistic forecasts, which is both its power and its trap. Useful if your business is genuinely growing; misleading if the growth number is hope rather than history.

BizEx Valuation Tool

Closest to broker math. BizEx, a California brokerage, publishes a tool built around the multiple of discretionary earnings method, with visible adjustments that echo how brokers actually think about pricing. It is a solid educational walk-through of SDE-based valuation. The limit is the same as all of them: the multiple it applies is generic rather than grounded in your local market.

My Calculator: The Ryan C. Winter Business Valuation Calculator

Mine, so judge accordingly. I built my free calculator for the owners I actually serve: profitable Florida businesses roughly $100K to $10M in revenue. It uses SDE-based multiples by industry, takes about three minutes, and is tuned to how Florida main street deals actually price. Two honest disclosures. First, like every tool here, it produces an estimate range, and I will be the first to tell you when your real number differs and why. Second, it is a lead tool: I built it hoping you will want the detailed follow-up valuation, which is free but comes from a broker who would like your listing. That is the same trade every calculator on this list is making; I am just saying it out loud.

Quick Comparison

Tool	Method	Truly Free?	Best For
BizBuySell	Marketplace comps	Basic yes, full report paid	Data-grounded second opinion
CalcXML	Earnings and risk discount	Yes, no email	Understanding risk assumptions
ExitAdviser	Discounted cash flow	Yes	Genuinely growing businesses
BizEx	SDE multiple walk-through	Yes	Learning broker-style math
Ryan C. Winter (this site)	SDE multiples, Florida-tuned	Yes	Florida owners wanting a market-based starting range

When to Ignore Every Calculator

Skip straight to a human valuation when your earnings need significant add-backs, when revenue is swinging in either direction, when one customer dominates, when real estate is part of the deal, or when you are within a year of actually selling. In those cases a calculator range is noise, and a broker’s opinion of value, which I provide free for Florida owners, or a certified appraisal for legal purposes, is the real answer. My guide on how Florida businesses are valued explains what goes into the real number.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most accurate free business valuation calculator?

None of them are accurate in the appraisal sense; they are starting ranges. BizBuySell has the strongest transaction data behind it, SDE-based tools like BizEx and mine best mirror how small businesses actually trade, and the honest move is to run two different tools and treat the overlap as your working range.

How do I get a real valuation for my Florida business?

A broker’s opinion of value, built from your actual financials, add-backs, and current Florida comparables, is free from most brokers including me, whether you are in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, or anywhere in the state. For litigation, divorce, or partnership disputes you need a certified business appraisal instead, which is a paid engagement with a credentialed appraiser.

Get Past the Estimate

Run the calculators, keep your skepticism, and when you want the number buyers will actually pay, talk to a human who prices Florida businesses for a living. Call (904) 789-1276 or start with my free three-minute calculator and I will take it from there.

Key-Person Risk: How Relying on One Person Lowers Your Business Value

Ryan C. Winter on July 13, 2026

When I evaluate a business for sale, one of the first risks I look for is how much the operation depends on a single person. Often that person is the owner, but sometimes it is a key employee: the master technician, the top salesperson, the one manager who holds everything together. That is called key-person risk, and it can quietly take a big bite out of your business value. Here is why buyers worry about it and what you can do.

Why buyers fear key-person risk

A buyer is purchasing future cash flow. If that cash flow depends on one irreplaceable person who might leave after the sale, the buyer is taking on real risk. What happens to the business if that person walks out the door six months later and takes their knowledge, relationships, or customers with them? The more the answer worries a buyer, the lower the price they will offer, or the more of the deal they will want tied to the business’s future performance.

It is the same problem as owner dependency

Key-person risk is a cousin of owner dependency, and it hurts value the same way. A business where success rides on one individual is fragile, and fragile businesses sell for less. Buyers pay a premium for companies that run on systems and teams, not heroes. If this sounds familiar, my article on owner dependency digs into the same dynamic from the owner’s angle.

How to reduce it before you sell

Cross-train. Make sure more than one person can do each critical job.
Document the knowledge. Get processes, relationships, and know-how out of people’s heads and into written systems.
Spread the relationships. Make sure key customers and vendors know the company, not just one person.
Retain your key people. Consider agreements or incentives that keep critical staff through and after a transition.

A stronger team means a stronger sale price

Building a business that does not hinge on any one person is one of the highest-return things you can do before selling. It is also just good business. If you want to understand where your business stands today and what is helping or hurting its value, start with my free valuation calculator, then let us talk. Call me at (904) 789-1276 or reach out here.

How to Value a Service Business in Northeast Florida

Ryan C. Winter on July 3, 2026 Updated October 4, 2026

Service businesses make up a huge share of the economy in Northeast Florida, from HVAC and plumbing to landscaping, IT services, healthcare, consulting, and everything in between. If you own one, you may be wondering: how do buyers and brokers figure out what it’s worth?

Valuing a service business has its own nuances compared to retail or manufacturing, and understanding those nuances can help you both interpret your current value and take steps to increase it.

Why Service Businesses Are Valued Differently

Service businesses don’t typically have a lot of hard assets, inventory, equipment, or real estate, that anchor their value. Instead, their value comes primarily from their earnings power: how much money the business generates for its owner, and how confidently a buyer can expect that to continue after the sale.

This makes cash flow (specifically Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, or SDE) the most important number in a service business valuation. And it makes transferability, the question of whether the business can run without the current owner, the most important qualitative factor.

The SDE Multiple Method

Most service businesses in Northeast Florida are valued using a multiple of SDE. Your SDE starts with your net profit and adds back your salary, personal expenses run through the business, depreciation, and one-time costs. The result is the true annual earning power of the business.

A market-based multiple is then applied. For smaller service businesses that multiple is moderate, and it climbs for larger, well-established companies with recurring revenue.

Two service businesses with the same earnings can sell for very different prices depending on these quality factors. A larger professional services firm with recurring clients and a team in place earns a meaningfully higher multiple than an owner-run shop.

The Owner Dependency Problem

Here’s the biggest challenge for most service business owners: if you are the business, you’ll struggle to get full value when you sell.

If customers hire you specifically because of your expertise, your relationships, or your personal reputation, and there’s no one else in the business who can step into your shoes, buyers will discount the business significantly. They’re worried you’ll leave and the revenue will follow.

The good news: this is fixable with time and intention. Hiring and training a qualified manager or lead technician, transferring key customer relationships to other team members, and documenting your processes all reduce owner dependency and increase value.

What Else Drives Value in a Service Business

Recurring revenue: Service contracts, maintenance agreements, and subscription-based customers are gold to buyers. They represent predictable, reliable income that doesn’t have to be re-earned every month.

Customer diversity: A service business with 200 active customers is worth more than one that depends on 10 large clients. Diversity protects the buyer from revenue loss if any single customer leaves.

Online reputation: In Northeast Florida’s market, Google reviews and referral-based business are critical. A strong, well-reviewed online presence tells buyers that the business attracts customers organically.

Team in place: Experienced, reliable employees who plan to stay after the sale increase buyer confidence and reduce transition risk.

Clean financials: Three years of organized, consistent financial records with clearly documented add-backs make the SDE number credible and help buyers get financing approved.

What’s Your Service Business Worth?

The best way to find out is to look at your actual numbers against current market comparables. Use our free business valuation calculator to get a quick estimate, or reach out to schedule a free consultation. We work with service business owners throughout Northeast Florida and can give you a realistic picture of your value, and a clear path to maximizing it.

Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE) Explained for Florida Business Owners

Ryan C. Winter on July 3, 2026 Updated October 6, 2026

If you’ve started researching what your business is worth, you’ve probably come across the term Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, commonly abbreviated as SDE. It’s one of the most important concepts in small business valuation, and understanding it can give you a significant advantage when it comes time to sell.

Let’s break it down in plain language.

What Is SDE?

Seller’s Discretionary Earnings is a measure of the total financial benefit an owner-operator receives from running a business each year. It’s calculated by taking your net profit and adding back certain expenses that reduce your taxable income but don’t represent real ongoing costs to a future buyer.

In other words, SDE is the answer to this question: “If I buy this business and run it myself full-time, how much money will it put in my pocket each year?”

How Is SDE Calculated?

Start with your net profit (after all expenses), then add back:

Owner’s salary and benefits: What you pay yourself, including health insurance, retirement contributions, and any other owner-specific compensation
Personal expenses run through the business: Vehicle expenses, phone bills, certain meals, travel, or other costs that are for your personal benefit and wouldn’t continue under new ownership
Depreciation and amortization: These are non-cash accounting expenses that don’t represent actual money leaving the business
Interest expense: Financing costs that are specific to your current debt structure and won’t carry over to the buyer
One-time or non-recurring expenses: Costs that happened in a particular year but won’t repeat, major repairs, legal fees for a one-time issue, startup costs

The sum of all these additions gives you your SDE, and it’s almost always significantly higher than the net profit shown on your tax return.

A Simple Example

Let’s say you own an HVAC service company in Northeast Florida. Here’s a simplified example of how SDE might look:

Net profit (as reported): $80,000
Add: Owner salary, $90,000
Add: Owner health insurance, $12,000
Add: Personal vehicle expenses, $8,000
Add: Depreciation, $15,000
Add: One-time equipment repair, $7,000
SDE: $212,000

That’s a dramatically different number, and it’s the number a buyer will use to evaluate what your business is worth.

Recasting: How Your Tax Return Becomes SDE

Recasting, also called normalizing, is the work of turning the profit on your tax return into SDE. Your return is built to keep taxes low, which is legal and normal. A buyer needs to see what the business earns for one full-time owner, so every legitimate add-back has to be identified, explained, and backed up.

I prepare a recast for every seller before a business goes to market, because buyers, their CPAs, and their lenders will rebuild your numbers on their own. A recast never changes your filed returns; it explains them, and your CPA should review it before it goes to a buyer.

Normalizing Works in Both Directions

Most owners only think about add-backs, but a recast also subtracts costs a buyer will face that you don’t carry today:

Related-party rent: if you lease the building from your own real estate entity, rent is adjusted to market. Rent above market is added back; rent below market is deducted, because the buyer will sign a real lease.
Family payroll: a relative paid more than the job is worth creates an add-back for the difference. A spouse or child who works for little or nothing creates a deduction for the cost of replacing them.
A second job you do: SDE assumes one owner. If you also work full time as the bookkeeper or lead technician, the cost of hiring for that second role comes out.

Build an Add-Back Schedule You Can Defend

Every adjustment belongs on a schedule that shows the year, the amount, what it was, and where the proof is: general ledger detail, an invoice or receipt, a bank or card statement, and the tax return line it sits in. A personal expense should be one the business won’t need to keep running. A one-time expense shouldn’t show up again the next year.

Two kinds of add-backs rarely survive. The first is cash sales that never made it into the books, because buyers and lenders can only rely on income you reported. The second is a “one-time” cost that appears every year.

What Buyers and SBA Lenders Accept

Many buyers finance with an SBA 7(a) loan, and SBA rules shape how your add-backs are treated. Under the SBA’s current lending procedures (SOP 50 10 8.1), the lender:

Verifies the business’s tax returns against IRS tax transcripts, so the starting point is always the return you filed
Must justify each adjustment or add-back in its credit memo, and adjustments without that supporting analysis don’t count toward the loan’s cash flow test
Relies on a business valuation prepared for the lender, not one prepared for you or the buyer, and checks the financial data behind it against your IRS transcripts
On acquisitions priced at $3 million or more, also requires a quality of earnings report that reconciles bank statements to the income statement and tax returns

The same rules require the buyer’s own pay to cover their living expenses, so lenders account for a salary the new owner can live on before deciding whether the business can carry the debt. An add-back the lender rejects shrinks the loan a buyer can get, and that usually shows up in the price.

If your books need work first, start with my guide to cleaning up your financials before a sale, and read how a quality of earnings report works if your deal is headed that way.

How SDE Is Used in Valuation

Buyers and lenders look at SDE together with what makes it more or less reliable: how steady it has been over three years, how much depends on you, customer concentration, the lease, and the condition of equipment. Two businesses with the same SDE can sell for very different prices for those reasons.

That’s your starting point for pricing, before taking into account real estate, equipment, or other assets.

Why This Number Matters

SDE is the foundation of any business valuation for a small to mid-sized company. Getting it wrong, either too low or too high, leads to problems. Too low, and you leave money on the table. Too high, and buyers (or their lenders) can’t verify the number and the deal falls through.

That’s why it’s important to work with a professional who can help you accurately calculate your SDE and build a well-documented add-back schedule that buyers and lenders can verify.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between SDE and EBITDA?

SDE adds back the full pay and benefits of one working owner, so it fits businesses where the buyer will run the company day to day. EBITDA assumes a paid manager is already in place and does not add back that salary, which is why it is used more for larger companies. Which measure fits depends on who the likely buyer is.

Can I add back cash income I didn't report?

No. Buyers rely on the income you reported, and SBA lenders verify tax returns against IRS transcripts. If you want credit for revenue when you sell, it needs to be on your books and your returns, ideally for several years before you list.

How many years of financials will buyers review?

Plan on at least three years of tax returns and profit and loss statements, plus the current year to date. SBA lenders base their analysis on the three most recent year-end statements and compare the latest interim period with the same period a year earlier.

Find Out Your SDE Estimate

Curious what your SDE might look like? Start with our free business valuation calculator, it’s designed to help Florida business owners get a realistic estimate of their business’s market value. Or reach out for a free consultation where we can walk through your actual numbers together.

Cash Flow vs. Profit: What Business Buyers in Florida Really Care About

Ryan C. Winter on July 3, 2026

If you’re thinking about selling your business in Florida, you’ll quickly discover that buyers look at your finances very differently than you might expect. They’re not just interested in how much profit your business made last year. They’re focused on cash flow, and understanding the difference could help you present your business in a way that’s both accurate and compelling.

What Is Profit?

Profit is what’s left over from your revenue after you subtract your costs and expenses. It shows up on your income statement (also called your profit and loss statement). Net profit is the bottom line, the number most business owners point to when asked how well their business is doing.

But here’s the thing: profit as reported on your tax return often understates the real earning power of your business. Why? Because many business owners legitimately run personal expenses through the company, a vehicle, health insurance, a phone plan, certain meals and travel. These reduce your taxable income but don’t represent real costs to a buyer who would run the business differently.

What Is Cash Flow?

Cash flow is money actually moving in and out of your business. A business can be profitable on paper and still have serious cash flow problems if customers pay slowly, inventory sits on the shelf, or large expenses hit all at once.

Conversely, some businesses generate strong cash flow even when their reported profit looks modest, especially when the owner has been aggressive about taking tax deductions. This is why buyers and brokers typically don’t stop at net profit.

What Buyers Really Focus On: SDE

When evaluating a small to mid-sized business for acquisition, most buyers use a metric called Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, or SDE. This starts with your net profit and adds back all the expenses that were there for your benefit, your salary, personal expenses, depreciation, amortization, interest, and any one-time costs.

SDE represents the true cash benefit of owning and operating the business. It’s the number buyers use to calculate what the business is worth to them personally. And it’s almost always higher than the net profit on your tax return.

For example: if your business shows $50,000 in net profit, but you also paid yourself a $100,000 salary, ran $20,000 in personal expenses through the company, and had $15,000 in one-time equipment repairs, your SDE would be closer to $185,000. That’s a very different number.

Why Clean Books Matter

Buyers will want to verify your SDE number by going line by line through your financials. If your books are messy or your add-backs are hard to explain and document, buyers will discount your number or push for a lower price to compensate for the uncertainty.

One of the most effective things you can do before selling is to clean up your books and create a clear, well-documented add-back schedule that shows buyers exactly how to get from your reported net income to your true SDE. This is work that a good accountant or business broker can help you with.

Operating Cash Flow Also Matters

Beyond SDE, buyers pay attention to operating cash flow, specifically, whether the business generates enough cash to service any debt they take on to buy it. If you’re planning to offer seller financing, or if the buyer is getting an SBA loan, the lender and the buyer both need to see that the business cash flows comfortably after debt service.

This is another reason why strong, consistent earnings are critical. A business that generates $150,000 in SDE will support a much larger loan than one that generates $60,000, which means buyers can offer more and access better financing.

The Bottom Line

When it comes time to sell, the story your financials tell matters enormously. Buyers care about cash flow, specifically, what the business will actually put in their pocket after they take over. Getting clear on your SDE and presenting it well can have a material impact on both your sale price and the quality of buyers you attract.

Ready to get started? Use our free business valuation calculator to estimate what your business might be worth, or reach out for a free consultation and we’ll walk through your numbers together.

How Much Is My Business Worth? A Florida Owner’s Guide to Business Valuation

Ryan C. Winter on July 3, 2026 Updated October 4, 2026

When business owners start thinking about selling, the first question is almost always: How much is my business worth?

It sounds simple enough. But business valuation is more nuanced than most owners expect. The answer depends on your industry, your financials, your growth trajectory, and what buyers in your market are currently willing to pay. Let’s break it down in plain language.

The Most Common Method: SDE Multiples

For small to mid-sized businesses, which covers most businesses in Florida, valuation typically starts with Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, or SDE. This is the total financial benefit an owner-operator receives from running the business each year.

SDE adds back to net profit: your owner salary, personal expenses run through the business, depreciation, amortization, interest, and any one-time costs that won’t continue after the sale. In short, it reflects the real earning power of the business under your ownership.

Once you have your SDE, you apply a market-based multiple. That multiple is shaped by several factors:

Industry: Service businesses, retail, restaurants, and healthcare all have their own typical ranges
Business size: Larger businesses generally command higher multiples
Revenue stability: Recurring revenue and long-term contracts significantly increase value
Transferability: Can the business run without you? The more it can, the more it’s worth

For most Main Street businesses in Florida, the SDE multiple is where quality shows up: two businesses generating the same $200,000 in SDE can sell for very different prices depending on quality, industry, and current market conditions.

Larger Businesses: EBITDA Multiples

For businesses with $500,000 or more in annual earnings, buyers often shift to EBITDA, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. This metric looks at the business as a more independent entity, separate from what the owner pays themselves.

EBITDA multiples tend to run higher because these deals attract private equity groups and strategic buyers who compete aggressively for strong businesses.

What Pushes Your Value Up

Consistent year-over-year revenue growth
A diversified customer base, no single client driving more than 20% of revenue
Documented processes and systems that reduce owner dependency
Recurring revenue or long-term service contracts
A strong online reputation and positive customer reviews
Clean, well-organized financial records going back at least three years
A stable, trained team that would likely stay after the sale

What Brings Your Value Down

Heavy owner dependency, revenue that exists because of your personal relationships
Customer concentration risk
Inconsistent or declining revenue trends
Disorganized financials or personal expenses mixed with business ones
A short remaining lease term with no guaranteed renewal
Deferred maintenance or aging equipment that needs replacement

Other Valuation Approaches

Beyond SDE and EBITDA multiples, some businesses are valued on assets (useful for equipment-heavy or real-estate-based businesses) or on a revenue multiple (more common for certain tech or subscription businesses). The right approach depends on your specific situation, a good broker can walk you through which method makes the most sense.

Find Out What Your Business Is Worth

You don’t have to guess. Use our free business valuation calculator to get a quick estimate based on your actual numbers. Or if you’d like a deeper analysis of your specific business, reach out for a free consultation. Knowing your number is the foundation of any smart exit plan.

Can You Sell a Business With Declining Revenue?

Ryan C. Winter on July 1, 2026

One of the harder questions I get asked is whether a business with slipping revenue can even be sold. The worry is understandable. If the numbers are heading down, will any buyer want it? The honest answer is yes, businesses with declining revenue sell all the time, but it takes the right approach, realistic expectations, and a clear story. Here is how to think about it.

Buyers care about why, not just the number

A revenue dip means very different things depending on the cause. Did you pull back because you are winding down toward retirement and stopped chasing growth? Did you lose one large customer but keep a healthy base? Or is the whole industry shrinking? Buyers can work with a decline they understand and believe they can reverse. What scares them is an unexplained slide. Being able to tell the honest story behind the numbers is half the battle.

Position the opportunity

Many buyers are actively looking for businesses with upside they can unlock. A business that has coasted under a tired or distracted owner can be attractive to someone with fresh energy and ideas. If the decline is due to underinvestment, limited marketing, or an owner stepping back, that is opportunity, not just risk. Presenting your business honestly while highlighting its genuine potential attracts the right buyer.

Price it for reality

A business with declining revenue will usually be valued more conservatively than one that is growing, and pricing it realistically is essential. Overpricing a declining business is the fastest way to sit unsold while the numbers keep dropping. A fair price that reflects current performance, and creative deal structures like seller financing or an earnout, can bridge the gap between what you hope for and what a buyer will pay.

Do not wait for it to get worse

If revenue is sliding and you are thinking about selling, time is usually not on your side. The longer you wait, the harder the story gets to tell and the lower the value tends to go. Selling sooner, while there is still a solid base and a believable path forward, almost always beats holding on and hoping for a turnaround you are no longer motivated to lead.

Let us talk honestly about your options

A soft patch does not mean you have missed your chance to sell. I help owners with declining revenue position, price, and structure a sale that gets a fair result. The conversation is free, completely confidential, and there is no pressure. Call me at (904) 789-1276 or reach out here.

What Happens to Your Business Debt When You Sell?

Ryan C. Winter on July 1, 2026

One of the most common questions I hear from owners getting ready to sell is a simple one with a slightly complicated answer: what happens to my business debt when I sell? Loans, lines of credit, equipment financing, and unpaid bills do not just disappear at closing. How they are handled depends on how the deal is structured, and it directly affects how much money you walk away with. Here is how it works.

Most sales are delivered debt-free

The majority of small business sales in Florida are asset sales, and they are typically done on a debt-free, cash-free basis. That means you, the seller, pay off the business’s debts at or before closing, usually out of the sale proceeds, and the buyer receives the business clean. The price is set as if the business had no debt, and existing loans are settled from what you receive at the closing table.

Where the debt actually gets paid

At closing, the settlement statement lists what you are owed and what comes out. Any loans secured by business assets, such as equipment financing or an SBA loan you took years ago, generally must be paid off so the buyer receives clear title to what they are buying. Liens have to be released. Your closing agent coordinates these payoffs so the buyer gets unencumbered assets and you net the remainder.

Watch for personal guarantees

Many small business loans are personally guaranteed by the owner. Selling the business does not automatically release you from that guarantee. It is important to make sure any debt you personally guaranteed is actually paid off and the guarantee is released at closing, so you are not left on the hook for a loan tied to a business you no longer own. This is a detail worth confirming in writing.

Sometimes debt is assumed

In some deals, a buyer agrees to assume certain liabilities, such as an equipment lease they want to keep, and the price is adjusted to reflect it. This is more common in stock sales than asset sales. Whenever debt is assumed rather than paid off, the numbers have to be adjusted carefully so everyone knows exactly what is changing hands.

Know your net before you sell

What matters most to you is not the headline price, it is what you actually keep after debts and costs. I help sellers understand their real net proceeds up front, so there are no surprises at closing. If you want a starting point on value, my free valuation calculator is a good first step, and then we can talk through the rest. Call me at (904) 789-1276 or reach out here.

How to Sell a Business That Includes Real Estate in Northeast Florida

Ryan C. Winter on July 1, 2026

Some of the businesses I represent in Northeast Florida come with the building they operate in, and that changes the sale in important ways. When you own both the company and the real estate, you are really selling two assets, and how you handle them can have a big impact on your total proceeds, your taxes, and how easy the deal is to finance. Here is how I help owners in St. Augustine and Jacksonville think it through.

You have two assets, and two ways to sell them

The business and the property are separate things, and buyers may want one, the other, or both. Some buyers want to own everything so they control their location. Others prefer to buy the business and lease the building from you, which turns your real estate into an income stream after the sale. Deciding which path fits your goals is one of the first conversations to have, because it shapes how we price and market the opportunity.

Value each one on its own terms

A common mistake is to lump the business and the building into one number. They are valued in completely different ways. The business is valued on its earnings, usually a multiple of seller’s discretionary earnings or EBITDA. The real estate is valued on comparable property sales and market rents, often with a professional appraisal. Separating the two gives buyers a clear picture and usually leads to a stronger overall price. If you want a starting point on the business side, my free valuation calculator is a good first step.

Watch the rent assumption

If you own your building, you may be paying yourself little or no rent, which makes your profit look higher than it would for a buyer who has to pay market rent. When we recast your financials, we adjust for a fair market rent so the business earnings reflect reality. This matters whether the buyer purchases the property or leases it, and getting it right protects your credibility during due diligence.

Keeping the building can be a smart move

Plenty of owners sell the business and hold the real estate, then lease it back to the new owner on a long-term lease. Done well, this gives you steady retirement income and a hard asset, while making the business easier for a buyer to afford because they are financing less. It is not right for everyone, but it is worth putting on the table. A lender’s requirements and your own tax situation will help decide.

Let us structure it the right way

Selling a business with real estate has more moving parts than a straight business sale, but those parts also create opportunities to improve your outcome. I can help you weigh selling both, leasing the building, or a mix, and structure the deal around what you actually want. The first conversation is free and completely confidential. Call me at (904) 789-1276 or reach out here.