What businesses sell for
Most owners find out what their business is worth at the worst possible moment, which is after they have already decided to sell.
Most owners find out what their business is worth at the worst possible moment, which is after they have already decided to sell. The figures on this page are the ones a buyer brings to the table. They are worth knowing two years before you need them, not two weeks.
A note on multiples, because the word gets used loosely. Below roughly two million dollars, businesses trade on a multiple of seller's discretionary earnings: profit with the owner's salary and personal expenses added back in. Above that, buyers switch to EBITDA, which does not add the owner back, because at that size they are buying a business that runs without one. That switch is why the multiple steps up around the two million mark, and it is why crossing it is worth more than the extra profit by itself would suggest.
Everything below is dated and sourced. Open any figure to see the sentence it came from and the page it was read on.
26 figures · 4 sources · last reviewed 2026-09-10
The headline numbers
What's the total dollar value of all the business sales happening?$1.8 billion
Total enterprise value of transactions in Q2 2026
Total enterprise value reached $1.8 billion
What multiple do buyers typically pay on cash flow?2.7
Overall average cash flow multiple
The average cash flow multiple increased 2% year-over-year to 2.7
What multiple do buyers typically pay on revenue?0.7
Overall average revenue multiple
the average revenue multiple remained essentially flat at 0.7
What does the typical small business sell for?$349,250 (1% decline year-over-year)
Overall median sale price
the median sale price slipped just 1% year-over-year to $349,250
How much cash does the median business generate?$155,921 (3% decline year-over-year)
Overall median cash flow
Median cash flow fell 3% year-over-year to $155,921
What revenue numbers are typical for businesses that are being sold?$692,087 (3% decline year-over-year)
Overall median revenue
median revenue fell 3% to $692,087
Multiples by size band
What multiple should I use to value my business by size?<$500K 2.0x SDE; $500K-$1M 2.8x SDE; $1M-$2M 3.3x SDE; $2M-$5M 4.0x EBITDA; $5M-$50M 5.3x EBITDA
Median multiples by deal size, Q3 2025
Read from a chart image rather than from text. Under $500K to $2M are multiples of seller's discretionary earnings; $2M to $50M are multiples of EBITDA.
How have multiples changed year-over-year?<$500K 2.0x; $500K-$1M 2.5x; $1M-$2M 2.9x; $2M-$5M 3.9x; $5M-$50M 4.5x
Median multiples by deal size, Q3 2024, for year-on-year comparison
Read from a chart image rather than from text. Shown for year-on-year comparison with the current quarter.
What multiple do lower middle market buyers use for the $1M-$5M EBITDA range?5.0x
LMM buyout EBITDA multiples $1M-$4.99M band average 5.0x
Avg EBITDA Multiple 3.0x 5.0x 5.2x 7.0x 7.0x 7.0x 7.0x
Median for the $1M to $4.99M EBITDA band. Revenue multiples in the same band run far lower, at 1.5x.
Service businesses
What does the median service business sell for?$350,000
Service sector median sale price
median sale price held steady at $350,000
Are service business multiples going up or down?2% increase
Service sector average cash-flow multiples increase
Average cash-flow multiples increased 2%
Are service businesses generating less cash than last year?4% decline
Service sector median cash flow decline year-over-year
median cash flow declining 4%
Are service businesses bringing in less revenue?7% decline
Service sector median revenue decline year-over-year
median revenue falling 7% year-over-year
Manufacturing
What's happening to manufacturing business sale prices?$704,500 (10% decline)
Manufacturing sector median sale price decline
median sale price fell 10% to $704,500
Are manufacturing businesses more profitable than they used to be?17% increase
Manufacturing sector median cash flow increase
median cash flow up 17%
Is manufacturing revenue actually growing?15% increase
Manufacturing sector median revenue increase
median revenue up 15%
What happened to manufacturing multiples while earnings were rising?7% decline
Manufacturing sector average cash flow multiple decline
the average cash flow multiple dropped 7%
Despite strong earnings growth, values weakened due to conservative buyer pricing
Restaurants
What's happening to restaurant sale prices?$205,000 (12% decline year-over-year)
Restaurant sector median sale price decline
median sale price fell 12% to $205,000
Are restaurant businesses actually more profitable?2% increase
Restaurant sector median cash flow increase
Median cash flow rose 2%
Is restaurant revenue declining?8% decline
Restaurant sector median revenue decline
median revenue declined 8%
Are restaurant businesses worth more on a multiple basis?5% increase
Restaurant sector average cash flow multiple increase
the average cash flow multiple increased 5%
Indicates buyers placed relatively more value on cash-flowing restaurant operators
Retail
What does the typical retail business sell for?$250,000
Retail sector median sale price
Median sale price held steady at $250,000
Held steady despite softer business performance
Are retail businesses seeing revenue drops?5% decline
Retail sector median revenue decline
median revenue down 5%
Are retail businesses less profitable?3% decline
Retail sector median cash flow decline
median cash flow declining 3%
Are retail businesses commanding higher multiples?6% increase
Retail sector average cash-flow multiples increase
average cash-flow multiples increased 6% year-over-year
Where multiples go from here
Are valuation multiples going to stay flat in 2026?61.9%
Most dealmakers expect valuation multiples to remain stable in 2026
A clear majority (61.9%) anticipate valuations will remain stable relative to 2025, while sentiment on directional movement is mixed—18.1% expect slight increases, and 18.1% expect slight decreases.
Based on survey of 107 lower middle market participants; very few expect dramatic valuation shifts
Related figures, kept on their own pages
- What causes deals to fall apart after the letter of intent is signed? How deals close, and why they fall apart25.3%
- How often do disagreements about earnings numbers kill a deal? How deals close, and why they fall apart21.3%
- What share of all business sales are service companies? How deals close, and why they fall apart40%
- Are service businesses harder to sell than they used to be? How deals close, and why they fall apart11% decline
- How long does it take to sell a service business? How deals close, and why they fall apart155 days (9% improvement)
- Is there less buying and selling in manufacturing? How deals close, and why they fall apart9% decline
- Is it taking longer to sell a manufacturing business? How deals close, and why they fall apart247 days (17% increase year-over-year)
- Is the restaurant business market getting tighter? How deals close, and why they fall apart12% decline
- Is it harder to sell a retail business than it used to be? How deals close, and why they fall apart15% decline
- How many owners have actually paid for a valuation? The ownership transfer14%
- Do most owners have a rough idea of what their business is worth? The ownership transfer50%
- How many business owners have no idea what their company is worth? The ownership transfer35%
- Are retail businesses getting hit harder by tariffs? Running the business69%
- Are manufacturing businesses getting hit harder by tariffs? Running the business62%
- What returns do mezzanine investors expect? What money costs16.0%
- What returns do private equity investors target? What money costs25% IRR
- What returns do private equity investors actually expect to realize? What money costs20% IRR
- How much price gap usually kills a deal? How deals close, and why they fall apart11-20%
- How do deal professionals weight different EBITDA calculations? What money costsrecast 33%, unadjusted 30%, cash flow 20%
What these numbers cannot tell you
A median is not your business. Half of everything that sold went for less than the figure above, and half went for more, and the spread inside a single sector is wider than the gap between sectors. Two service businesses with identical revenue can trade two turns apart on customer concentration alone.
A multiple also only means something once both sides agree on the earnings it gets applied to. That argument, not the multiple, is where most of the money moves. Recasting the numbers, deciding which expenses were really the owner's and which were the business's, routinely swings a price further than a half turn of multiple would.
And the direction matters as much as the level. Manufacturing on this page is the clearest example: earnings up sharply, sale prices down. Buyers are pricing risk, not last year's profit.
Two figures that shape the price but do not live on this page. What a buyer can borrow sets the ceiling on what they can offer, which is on what money costs. And the reasons deals collapse after a price is agreed are on how deals close.
Sources on this page
- Axial
- BizBuySell Insight Report
- IBBA / M&A Source Market Pulse
- Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report
Reported as published by the sources named. Not investment, legal, tax or valuation advice.