Free tool
What is your business worth?
Estimate a private company's value range in about 90 seconds, then see exactly what moves the number, up or down. Built on the earnings-multiple method used for the 99% of M&A that happens below $50M. Want the institutional version? Value Alpha.
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How it works
The method behind the number
This tool uses the same logic a practitioner uses below $50M: take durable owner earnings (SDE), apply a sector base multiple, then adjust for the things that actually change what a buyer will pay. Growth, recurring revenue, and independence from the owner push the multiple up. Customer concentration and owner dependence pull it down. The output is a range, never a single point, because a number you cannot defend a range around is a number you do not understand.
What it cannot see is the part that matters most on a real deal: who the buyer is. A strategic buyer prices your business inside theirs, the revenue they can cross-sell and the cost they can remove, and will rationally pay far more than a financial buyer pricing a standalone return. That judgment is where I spend my attention. For the full method, read Private Company Valuation 101, or see how 7,601 real deals actually priced in the Valuation Index.
More tools: raising instead of selling? See the founder fundraising tools, or run the SAFE and dilution calculator.
FAQ
Questions, answered
How is a small private business valued?
Most private businesses below $50M are valued on a multiple of owner earnings (SDE or EBITDA). The multiple is not a constant. It rises with growth, recurring revenue, and independence from the owner, and falls with customer concentration and owner dependence. This calculator applies that method to give a defensible range, not a single number.
What is SDE or owner earnings?
Seller's discretionary earnings is annual profit with the owner's salary, one-time costs, and non-business expenses added back. It is the durable cash the business generates. Rule-of-thumb valuations often fail because they multiply a profit figure that disappears the day the founder leaves.
Is this calculator a formal valuation?
No. It is an educational estimate using standard market multiples, not a formal or certified valuation. A real valuation accounts for buyer type, deal structure, and the things a data room leaves out. For a live decision, book an advisory session or use Value Alpha.