Florida Business Sales Market Report (2026): What Businesses Are Actually Selling For
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 between 2 and 3.5 times seller’s discretionary earnings, recurring-revenue service companies push the top of that band and sometimes through it, restaurants and retail sit below it, 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) 735-8994 or start with the free valuation calculator.
Curious What Your Business Is Worth?
Get a free, data-driven estimate in under 3 minutes, no obligation, completely confidential.