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.
A common rule of thumb is assigning a business value based on a multiple of its annual EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). The specific multiple used often ranges from 2 to 6 times EBITDA depending on the size, industry, profit margins, and growth prospects.
For example, a business that is doing $300,000 in profit per year sold for at 2.44X would have a sale price of $732,000 ($300,000*2.44=$732,000). This works in reverse as well — if a business sold for $732,000 at 2.44X, then ($732,000/2.44) means the profit was $300,000.
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.
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.
To quickly value a business, find its total liabilities and subtract them from the total assets. This will give you an idea of its book value. This formula estimates the worth of a business by looking at its assets and subtracting any liabilities.
Add up the value of everything the business owns, including all equipment and inventory. Subtract any debts or liabilities. The value of the business's balance sheet is at least a starting point for determining the business's worth. But the business is probably worth a lot more than its net assets.
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.
Multiply the SDE or EBITDA of the business by a multiple. Common multiples for most small businesses are two to four times SDE. Common multiples for mid-sized businesses are three to six times EBITDA.
Discretionary Earnings Rule of Thumb
The discretionary earnings method starts with the annual cash from the business that's available to the owner after taking out essential operating expenses. It then multiplies that number by a factor usually between two and four, depending on the business type.
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.
The valuation of a company based on the revenue is calculated by using the company's total revenue before subtracting operating expenses and multiplying it by an industry multiple. The industry multiple is an average of what companies usually sell for in the given industry.
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.
Car Dealerships – dealers often cite 'Blue-Sky' multiples, being the amount of goodwill value of the dealership. 'Blue-Sky' value is calculated as pre-tax income multiplied by the 'Blue-Sky' multiple which is typically derived from industry publications and informed by precedent transactions.
A common way to value a private company is by using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) or a Comparable Company Analysis (CCA), and by taking into account factors such as financial performance, growth prospects, industry dynamics, and risk factors.
Asset-Based Valuation is a method used in company valuations to determine a company's worth based on its tangible assets. This approach calculates the company's value by summing up the value of its assets and subtracting its liabilities. Tangible assets may include property, equipment, inventory, and investments.
The Expected Value (EV) shows the weighted average of a given choice; to calculate this multiply the probability of each given outcome by its expected value and add them together eg EV Launch new product = [0.4 x 30] + [0.6 x -8] = 12 - 4.8 = £7.2m.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. However, because it works like a snapshot of current value it may not take into consideration future revenue or earnings.
The formula generally used is: Selling Price = COGS + (COGS * Desired Profit Margin). This straightforward equation allows businesses to calculate a target price that meets both cost recovery and profit goals.
The basis calculation consists of your financial contributions to the company plus ordinary income and losses minus distributions (like dividends and other payouts). The cost basis is most often calculated using the First In, First Out, or FIFO method.