How do I calculate what my business is worth?

Asked by: Liliana Walsh  |  Last update: July 25, 2025
Score: 5/5 (73 votes)

There are a number of ways to determine the market value of your business.
  1. Tally the value of assets. Add up the value of everything the business owns, including all equipment and inventory. ...
  2. Base it on revenue. ...
  3. Use earnings multiples. ...
  4. Do a discounted cash-flow analysis. ...
  5. Go beyond financial formulas.

How do I calculate the value of my business?

Take your total assets and subtract your total liabilities. This approach makes it easy to trace to the valuation because it's coming directly from your accounting/record keeping.

Is there a formula to value a business?

Current Value = (Asset Value) / (1 – Debt Ratio)

When it comes to determining the worth of a business, business owners often struggle with undervaluing or overvaluing their company.

What is the rule of thumb for valuing a business?

The revenue multiple is the key factor in determining a company's value. To calculate the times-revenue, divide the selling price by the company's revenue from the past 12 months. This ratio reveals how much a buyer was willing to pay for the business, expressed as a multiple of annual revenue.

How much is a business worth with $1 million in sales?

The Revenue Multiple (times revenue) Method

A venture that earns $1 million per year in revenue, for example, could have a multiple of 2 or 3 applied to it, resulting in a $2 or $3 million valuation. Another business might earn just $500,000 per year and earn a multiple of 0.5, yielding a valuation of $250,000.

Top 4 Ways to Value a Business | What is Your Business Worth?

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How much is a typical small business worth?

Companies with under $3m in sales will typically sell for 2.5 – 3.5 X their discretionary earnings (total cash the owner could take out of the company). Smaller companies that are even more owner-reliant will even be lower than that.

How much is a business worth with $500,000 in sales?

To find the fair market value, it is then necessary to divide that figure by the capitalization rate. Therefore, the income approach would reveal the following calculations. Projected sales are $500,000, and the capitalization rate is 25%, so the fair market value is $125,000.

What is the most common way of valuing a small business?

Valuation specialists commonly assess a small business based on their price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), or multiples of profit. The P/E ratio is best suited to companies with an established track record of annual earnings.

How much should I sell my small business for?

A business in California might sell 2 to 3 times the seller's discretionary earnings. The fair market value is what the business would sell for on the free market.

How many times profit is a business worth?

EBIT multiples can range from 0.8 times FME to over 5 times, depending upon the industry, performance, and relative risk of the subject business.

How does Shark Tank calculate valuation?

A revenue valuation, which considers the prior year's sales and revenue and any sales in the pipeline, is often determined. The Sharks use a company's profit compared to the company's valuation from revenue to come up with an earnings multiple.

What is the formula for fair value of a business?

It is calculated by subtracting depreciation from the cost of the asset. Fair value represents the current market price that both buyer and seller agree upon. Carrying value reflects the firm's equity. This transaction benefits both parties.

What is an example of valuation of a business?

Valuations are generally expressed as a multiple times EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). For example, a business with EBITDA of $1 million and a multiple of 3 is valued at $3 million.

What is the formula for present value of a business?

The formula used to calculate the present value (PV) divides the future value of a future cash flow by one plus the discount rate raised to the number of periods, as shown below.

How much is my business name worth?

One way to assess the value of a business name is to consider the cost of acquiring it through a domain name purchase, trademark registration, or any other legal fees. This can provide a tangible benchmark for the value of the name in the marketplace.

How much profit should a $2 million dollar business make?

So as an example, a company doing $2 million in real revenue (I'll explain below) should target a profit of 10 percent of that $2 million, owner's pay of 10 percent, taxes of 15 percent and operating expenses of 65 percent. Take a couple of seconds to study the chart.

How to calculate how much a business is worth?

There are a number of ways to determine the market value of your business.
  1. Tally the value of assets. Add up the value of everything the business owns, including all equipment and inventory. ...
  2. Base it on revenue. ...
  3. Use earnings multiples. ...
  4. Do a discounted cash-flow analysis. ...
  5. Go beyond financial formulas.

At what point should I sell my business?

If you've outgrown your business or your business has outgrown you. If your industry is shrinking or you're looking elsewhere. If what you're doing could be better done within a partnership, it might be time to sell. Consider the options carefully and be sure the diagnosis is correct before you move forward.

How to calculate the price to sell a business?

In short, this method is all about calculating the multiples of net income. To calculate multiple net income, multiply your net operating income (NOI) by the net income multiplier (NIM) to calculate multiple net income. You'll arrive at your business's market value at which you'll sell. = NIM X NOI.

What is the quick calculation to value a business?

The Net Book Value (NBV) of your business is calculated by deducting the costs of your business liabilities, including debt and outstanding credit, from the total value of your tangible and intangible assets.

What is the best formula to value a business?

Here are ten of the most common formulas to value a business:
  • 1) Asset-Based Valuation. ...
  • Current Value = (Asset Value) / (1 – Debt Ratio) ...
  • 2) Income-Based Valuation. ...
  • Present Value = (Annual Income/ 1+ Discount Rate ^ (1/ number of years) ...
  • 3) Market-Based Valuation. ...
  • CV = (EBITDA x 1.5) – (current liabilities x 0.5)

What is the market value of a small business?

A market-based valuation estimates the value of your business based on the value of similar businesses — ones of a similar size and in a similar industry. Market valuations may be based on comparisons to similar publicly traded companies or recent sales of comparable businesses.

How many times revenue is a small business worth?

The times-revenue method determines the maximum value of a company as a multiple of its revenue for a set period of time. The multiple varies by industry and other factors but is typically one or two. In some industries, the multiple might be less than one.

How to calculate valuation?

Methods Of Valuation Of A Company
  1. Net Asset Value or NAV= Fair Value of all the Assets of the Company – Sum of all the outstanding Liabilities of the Company.
  2. PE Ratio= Stock Price / Earnings per Share.
  3. PS Ratio= Stock Price / Net Annual Sales of the Company per share.
  4. PBV Ratio= Stock Price / Book Value of the stock.

How much is a business worth that makes $1 million a year?

Using this basic formula, a company doing $1 million a year, making around $200,000 EBITDA, is worth between $600,000 and $1 million. Some people make it even more basic, and moderate profits earn a value of one times revenue: A business doing $1 million is worth $1 million.