Before you can sell your business well — or even decide whether to — you need to know what it’s worth. A professional business valuation gives you that number, grounded in real market data rather than a rule of thumb or a hopeful guess. It’s the first step in our Preparation to Payday process, and for many owners, it’s the most clarifying conversation they’ve had about their business in years.
What’s Your Business Worth? Professional Business Valuation & Appraisal
How much is my business worth?
It’s the question every owner eventually asks, and the honest answer is: more than a formula can tell you on its own. Your value depends on your earnings and cash flow, your growth trend, how dependent the business is on you personally, the strength of your team and customer base, your industry, and what comparable businesses are actually selling for today. A real valuation weighs all of it. We translate those factors into a defensible range you can plan around — and explain, in plain language, what’s driving it.
What goes into a business valuation
We look at your normalized earnings (often EBITDA or seller’s discretionary earnings, adjusted for owner-specific expenses), recent and projected revenue trends, the quality and concentration of your customer relationships, your competitive position, and the multiples buyers are currently paying for businesses like yours. The result isn’t just a number — it’s a clear picture of where your value comes from and where it’s vulnerable.
Business valuation vs. business appraisal
People use the terms interchangeably, and for most owners they point to the same goal: an objective, well-supported estimate of what your business is worth. A formal appraisal may be required for specific legal, tax, or partnership purposes; a valuation for sale purposes focuses on what a real buyer would pay in today’s market. We’ll help you understand which one your situation calls for, so you’re not paying for more — or less — than you need.
Why know your number before you sell
Owners who go to market without knowing their value are negotiating blind. They accept too little, or they hold out for a number the market won’t support and watch the opportunity pass. Knowing your number early does three things: it tells you whether selling now meets your goals, it reveals the gaps worth closing first, and it puts you in a position of confidence when offers arrive. Preparation, not reaction — it starts here.
From your number to a better number
If your valuation comes in below where you’d like it, that’s not bad news — it’s a head start. Because we identify exactly what’s driving your value, we can show you the handful of improvements that move it most: reducing owner dependence, strengthening recurring revenue, cleaning up financials, diversifying customers. With a runway of even a year or two, many owners meaningfully raise their sale price before going to market. That’s the heart of Preparation to Payday.
