The Valuation Report
What is your business worth?
Most owner-operated businesses sell for a multiple of what they actually earn for their owner, and that number is almost never the profit on the tax return. Work out your real earnings first, then the multiple your business has earned, and you have your answer.
Every sale conversation starts with that number, and the owner who walks in without one negotiates blind. This report shows what your business actually earns for its owner, what raises or lowers your multiple, and an honest value range set personally by James Bell. It is an opinion of value for planning a sale; it is never a certified appraisal.
Work out a rough range now.
Pick your industry and enter what the business earns in a year. The range runs between the published average for that industry and the published average for its wider sector, both read off the reported sales in the table below. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is saved.
Enter a positive yearly figure to see a range.
Bakeries average 2.44 times owner earnings, and the wider food and restaurants sector averages 2.27. The lower end of the range is the food and restaurants sector average, and the higher end is the bakery average. The median reported sale price for a bakery was $200,963.
This is a rough range from published averages of reported sales, and it is not an appraisal. See the bakery multiples and sources.
A range built from averages sets expectations and it does not value a business. For your own number, the valuation report below recasts what your business actually earns for its owner, and James Bell sets the range himself.
How it works.
Step 1
Give us your numbers
A short questionnaire covers your revenue history, what you pay yourself, and the expenses that run through the business. About fifteen questions, saved as you type, finished in one sitting for most owners.
Step 2
We recast your earnings
Your report presents what the business actually earns for its owner: book profit plus your compensation, personal expenses, and one-time items. This single number, your SDE, is what every buyer prices from.
Step 3
James sets the range
The value range is never generated by software. James Bell reads your report, weighs your drivers and risks against 47 years of real deals, and sets the range himself before the report reaches you.
Reviewed by James Bell
47 years building and selling companies. Two taken public, one sold for eight figures. He reads every document before it reaches you. About James
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What businesses like yours have sold for.
The table below carries the average earnings multiple, the average revenue multiple, and the median sale price for each industry, and beside them the averages for the wider sector that industry sits in. Every figure is read off reported sales from Q3 2021 through Q2 2026, and each one names the BizBuySell row it came from. An average is a starting point and not a valuation, so use it to set expectations and then work out your own number above.
| Industry | BizBuySell row | Earnings multiple (SDE) | Revenue multiple | Median sale price | Wider sector at the same source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is a bakery worth? | Bakeries | 2.44 | 0.51 | $200,963 | Food and Restaurants2.27 earnings, 0.42 revenue |
| What is a car wash worth? | Car Washes | 4.87 | 1.96 | $800,000 | Automotive and Boat3.10 earnings, 0.71 revenue |
| What is a catering company worth? | Catering Companies | 2.07 | 0.45 | $416,000 | Service Businesses2.61 earnings, 0.83 revenue |
| What is a cleaning business worth? | Cleaning Businesses | 2.25 | 0.72 | $281,500 | Service Businesses2.61 earnings, 0.83 revenue |
| What is a food truck worth? | Food Trucks | 2.03 | 0.55 | $78,000 | Food and Restaurants2.27 earnings, 0.42 revenue |
| What is an HVAC business worth? | HVAC Businesses | 2.83 | 0.60 | $750,000 | Building and Construction2.65 earnings, 0.59 revenue |
| What is a landscaping business worth? | Landscaping and Yard Service Businesses | 2.49 | 0.72 | $449,950 | Service Businesses2.61 earnings, 0.83 revenue |
| What is a pest control business worth? | Pest Control Businesses | 2.46 | 1.01 | $250,000 | Service Businesses2.61 earnings, 0.83 revenue |
| What is a plumbing business worth? | Plumbing Businesses | 2.61 | 0.69 | $699,000 | Building and Construction2.65 earnings, 0.59 revenue |
| What is a property management company worth? | Property Management Businesses | 2.66 | 0.92 | $400,000 | Service Businesses2.61 earnings, 0.83 revenue |
| What is a restaurant worth? | Restaurants | 2.18 | 0.39 | $220,000 | Food and Restaurants2.27 earnings, 0.42 revenue |
| What is a trucking company worth? | Trucking Companies | 3.00 | 0.66 | $1,100,000 | Transportation and Storage1.95 earnings, 0.64 revenue |
Every figure on a row is read off the BizBuySellrow named beside it. The earnings multiple, the revenue multiple and the median sale price belong to that industry’s own row, and the last column carries the wider sector row the same table files it under. The earnings multiples are SDE multiples, not EBITDA multiples, because SDE adds the owner’s own pay and personal expenses back to profit and that is how owner-operated businesses are priced.
Source: BizBuySell, Business Valuation Multiples by Industry. Reported sales, Q3 2021 through Q2 2026. Accessed 2026-09-01.