What Is My Business Worth? How to Find Out Before Talking to Brokers
"What is my business worth?" It is the first question every owner asks when the thought of selling crosses their mind. It is also the question most get wrong.
According to BizBuySell's 2025 Insight Report, the median sale price for a small business was $350,000. But that number hides a brutal reality: 80% of businesses that go to market never sell. And of all small business exits in the US, 92% end in closure, not a completed sale. Only about 5% of owners actually sell their business to a new buyer.
Why? Because most owners have never done the work to understand what drives value in the eyes of a buyer. They guess. They round up. They count sweat equity that no buyer will pay for. Then they sit across from a broker, hear a number 40% lower than expected, and walk away frustrated.
This guide is designed to prevent that. We will walk through the three main valuation methods, explain what pushes your multiple higher or drags it down, show you what buyers actually scrutinize during due diligence, and give you a concrete plan to increase your business value before you ever list it.
Whether you are planning to sell in 6 months or 6 years, knowing how much your business is worth is the starting point for every smart decision you make from here.
Business Valuation: Key Numbers You Should Know
Quick Reference: Business Valuation at a Glance
Before we get into the details, here is a side-by-side comparison of the three main ways to value a small business. Bookmark this table. You will reference it every time someone quotes you a number.
| Method | Best For | Typical Range | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDE Multiple | Owner-operated businesses under $1M earnings | 2x to 4x SDE | Simple, widely used, includes owner benefit | Subjective add-backs, varies by buyer |
| EBITDA Multiple | Businesses with $1M+ earnings and management team | 3x to 7x EBITDA | Standard for PE and strategic buyers, comparable | Does not account for owner involvement |
| Revenue Multiple | High-growth, pre-profit, or SaaS businesses | 0.5x to 3x revenue | Works when profit is minimal but growth is strong | Ignores profitability, often inflated |
Which method should you use?
If you run the business and take a salary from it, start with SDE. If you have a management team running day-to-day operations and you could disappear for a month without anything breaking, use EBITDA. If your business is pre-profit with strong recurring revenue growth (common in SaaS), use a revenue multiple. Most small businesses with $500K to $2M in revenue will use SDE.
The 3 Most Common Valuation Methods
Every business valuation boils down to one question: how much money does this thing make, and how reliably will it keep making it? The three methods below answer that question from slightly different angles. Understanding all three matters because buyers, brokers, and appraisers will often calculate two or three of them and triangulate.
Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) Multiple
SDE is the gold standard for small business valuation. If you are an owner-operator making less than $1M per year, this is almost certainly how your business will be valued.
SDE = Net Income + Owner's Salary + Owner Perks + Depreciation + Amortization + Interest + One-Time Expenses
The idea behind SDE is simple: it represents the total financial benefit available to one working owner. By adding back the owner's compensation and personal expenses run through the business, you show a buyer what they will actually earn if they buy the business and run it themselves.
Real Example: HVAC Company
That $500,000 is a starting point. The actual sale price depends on dozens of factors we will cover in the next section. But this is the math every broker runs first.
Notice how the owner's salary gets added back. Many owners pay themselves modestly to minimize taxes, which actually suppresses their SDE. A buyer sees through this. They care about total cash flow, not what you chose to pay yourself. If you need help understanding how owner dependency affects your exit options, we wrote a separate deep dive on that.
EBITDA Multiple
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. It is the standard valuation method for businesses with annual earnings above $1M and a management team in place.
The critical difference from SDE: EBITDA does not add back the owner's salary. It assumes the business has professional management that will stay after the sale. The owner is not part of the operating equation.
Real Example: Dental Practice Group (3 Locations)
Private equity firms, dental service organizations (DSOs), and strategic acquirers all speak EBITDA. If you are building a business with the goal of selling to an institutional buyer, this is the language you need to learn. Understanding how recurring revenue models boost your EBITDA is one of the fastest ways to grow your multiple.
Revenue Multiple
Revenue multiples are used when a business is growing fast but is not yet profitable, or when profitability is intentionally suppressed to fuel growth. This is common in SaaS, e-commerce, and venture-backed businesses.
Business Value = Annual Revenue x Revenue Multiple
A SaaS company doing $800,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR) with 20% month-over-month growth might sell at 3x to 5x revenue ($2.4M to $4M) even if it is barely breaking even. The buyer is paying for growth trajectory, recurring revenue predictability, and market position.
When revenue multiples mislead
Revenue multiples are the most dangerous method for a small business owner to use because they ignore profitability entirely. A $2M revenue business with $50K in profit is not worth $4M at a 2x revenue multiple. It is worth whatever the adjusted earnings support. Use revenue multiples only if your business has strong recurring revenue, high growth rates, and a clear path to profitability.
For most small business owners reading this, SDE is your starting point. It is simple, widely understood, and accounts for the reality that you are both running and profiting from the business. If you want to shift from SDE to EBITDA territory (and the higher multiples that come with it), the path runs through documenting your processes and building a team that does not depend on you.
What Drives Your Multiple Up or Down
Your SDE or EBITDA number sets the foundation. But the multiple applied to that number is where fortunes are made or lost. Two businesses with identical $300,000 SDE can sell for $750,000 (2.5x) or $1,200,000 (4x). The difference comes down to risk and transferability.
Buyers pay higher multiples for businesses that are low-risk and easy to transfer. They discount businesses that require the current owner to function. Here are the four biggest factors.
Financial Performance
This one seems obvious, but the details matter. Buyers do not just look at your current year. They want 3 to 5 years of tax returns and financial statements. They are looking for:
- Revenue growth trend. Growing 10% per year? Multiple goes up. Flat or declining? Multiple drops fast.
- Profit margin consistency. Wild swings in margins signal unpredictability. Steady margins signal a machine.
- Revenue diversification. Multiple product lines and low client concentration reduce buyer risk.
- Clean books. If your accountant needs three days to separate personal from business expenses, that is a red flag the size of a billboard. Buyers will either discount the price or walk away.
Running $100,000 in personal expenses through your business might save you $25,000 in taxes. But if those expenses lower your SDE by $100,000 and you sell at a 5x multiple, you just lost $500,000 in business value. That is the most expensive tax savings you will ever take.
Customer Concentration
If one client accounts for more than 20% of your revenue, buyers get nervous. If one client accounts for more than 40%, many buyers will not even make an offer.
The reason is simple: that client could leave after the sale. And if they do, the buyer just paid full price for a business that instantly lost a third of its revenue.
Building a diversified client base takes time. But from a valuation standpoint, adding your 50th small client is worth more than doubling your biggest account. If you are a contractor or professional services firm with client concentration issues, our guide on reducing client concentration walks through exactly how to fix this.
Owner Dependency (the Hidden Killer)
This is the single biggest factor that separates businesses that sell from businesses that do not. And it is the one most owners are blind to.
"If all the operations are stored in your brain, you don't have anything to sell. You have a job with overhead."
Owner-dependent businesses sell at 3x to 4x multiples. Businesses with systems and teams in place sell at 7x to 8x multiples. That is a 25 to 35% discount just for being too involved.
Here is the test buyers use: What happens if the owner disappears for two weeks? If the business keeps running, customers keep getting served, and leads keep coming in, you have something sellable. If the answer is "everything stops," you have an expensive job, not a transferable business.
The irony is that most owners build their businesses through personal hustle. They are the top salesperson, the relationship holder, the problem solver. The same skills that built the business are now the things making it hard to sell. We wrote an entire guide on building owner-independent marketing systems because it is the fastest lever most owners can pull to increase their multiple.
Marketing Infrastructure (the Overlooked Multiplier)
This is where most valuation discussions stop. Financial advisors and brokers know about revenue trends, customer concentration, and owner dependency. But almost nobody talks about the marketing assets that buyers evaluate during due diligence.
How much is your business worth? Significantly more if it has these marketing assets in place:
Email List
Industry data suggests email lists add approximately $1 per subscriber per year in attributed value. A 10,000-subscriber list built over 5 years could add $120,000+ to your business valuation.
Buyers see email lists as owned audiences they do not have to build from scratch.
SEO and Organic Traffic
Strong SEO adds 10 to 30 percent to business valuation. Organic rankings are a transferable asset that keeps generating leads without ad spend.
Unlike Google Ads, organic traffic does not stop when you stop paying.
Documented Marketing SOPs
Businesses with documented marketing processes sell 2 to 3 times faster than those without. SOPs reduce perceived risk and shorten due diligence.
A buyer reading your marketing playbook thinks: "I can run this."
Traffic Diversification
Businesses generating leads from 4+ channels (organic, paid, email, referral, social) carry less risk than those dependent on a single source. Diversification protects against platform changes.
Single-channel dependency is the marketing version of client concentration.
Financial advisors do not measure these things. They look at revenue, margins, and trends. Brokers glance at them but rarely quantify the impact. This gap is exactly why we built the Exit Marketing Optimization service. Nobody else is helping owners build transferable marketing infrastructure specifically to increase sale price. Read more about how digital assets impact your business sale if you want to understand the full picture.
Take the Exit Marketing Score
Most valuation tools measure finances. This one measures the marketing factors that buyers actually evaluate during due diligence.
Your Exit Marketing Score tells you whether your marketing infrastructure is adding to or subtracting from your business value. It takes about 5 minutes and covers owner dependency, lead source diversity, digital asset ownership, documentation quality, and brand transferability. At the end, you get a score out of 100 with specific recommendations.
Digital Asset Ownership
Who owns your business's domain name registration?
After your score, you can dig deeper with the Exit Marketing Toolkit ($17) for a complete self-guided workbook, or book a full Exit Marketing Audit ($350) for a professional review of your marketing infrastructure with a custom action plan.
Industry-Specific Valuation Benchmarks
Multiples vary dramatically by industry. A dental practice and an HVAC company with identical earnings will sell at very different prices because buyers assess risk, growth potential, and recurring revenue differently. Use this table as a reference point, not gospel. Your specific business characteristics will push you above or below these ranges.
| Industry | Typical SDE Multiple | Typical EBITDA Multiple | Key Value Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental Practices | 2.0x to 3.5x | 5x to 8x | Patient retention, insurance mix, associate dentists, recurring hygiene revenue |
| HVAC | 2.0x to 3.5x | 4x to 6x | Service agreement base, technician depth, brand reputation, local SEO rankings |
| Restaurants | 1.5x to 2.5x | 3x to 5x | Lease terms, concept uniqueness, food cost %, management in place |
| Construction/Contracting | 1.5x to 3.0x | 3x to 5x | Backlog, crew retention, bonding capacity, equipment condition |
| Professional Services | 2.0x to 4.0x | 4x to 7x | Recurring contracts, client relationships, team depth, brand reputation |
| Home Services (plumbing, electrical) | 2.0x to 3.0x | 3x to 5x | Service area exclusivity, Google reviews, lead gen systems, license transfers |
| E-commerce | 2.5x to 4.0x | 4x to 8x | Brand strength, traffic diversity, supplier relationships, repeat customer rate |
| SaaS | 3.0x to 5.0x | 6x to 12x | MRR/ARR, churn rate, LTV:CAC ratio, growth rate, net revenue retention |
| Staffing Agencies | 2.0x to 3.5x | 4x to 7x | Recurring placements, niche specialization, candidate database, client contracts |
Why SaaS commands the highest multiples
SaaS businesses often sell at 6x to 12x EBITDA (or 3x to 10x revenue) because of monthly recurring revenue. When a buyer acquires a SaaS company with $100K MRR and 95% net retention, they are buying $1.2M per year in predictable income that compounds. That predictability is worth a massive premium. If you are a service business looking to add recurring revenue, read our guide on recurring revenue marketing models.
Important: These multiples assume a healthy, well-run business. If your HVAC company has an owner who handles every emergency call, no documented processes, and one big commercial client providing 35% of revenue, you are looking at the bottom of the range, not the top.
How to Get a Professional Valuation
Self-valuation is a starting point. It is not the ending point. Owners consistently overvalue their businesses by 20 to 40 percent because of emotional attachment and sweat equity bias. Here are three ways to get an objective number.
Business Brokers
A business broker will provide a free "broker opinion of value" (BOV) as part of pitching you to list with them. This is not a formal appraisal, but it gives you a market-based range from someone who sells businesses like yours every week.
Pros: Free. Based on actual comparable sales data. The broker has direct buyer insight.
Cons: Brokers may inflate the valuation to win your listing (they earn commission on the sale). Not defensible in legal situations. The BOV is an educated opinion, not a certified valuation.
Talk to at least two brokers. If their valuations are more than 20% apart, dig into why. The gap usually reveals different assumptions about add-backs, growth trajectory, or comparable sales.
Certified Business Appraisers (CBAs)
For a defensible, court-admissible valuation, you need a Certified Business Appraiser or an accredited senior appraiser (ASA). These professionals follow the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and produce reports that hold up during partner buyouts, divorce proceedings, estate planning, and SBA loan applications.
Cost: $3,000 to $10,000 for most small businesses. Complex businesses with multiple locations or significant intellectual property run $10,000 to $15,000+.
Timeline: 4 to 8 weeks from engagement to final report.
The Exit Planning Institute maintains a directory of Certified Exit Planning Advisors (CEPAs) who work alongside appraisers to help owners maximize value before going to market.
Online Valuation Tools (With Honest Limitations)
Online business valuation calculators can give you a ballpark in 15 to 30 minutes. Tools like BizBuySell's valuation calculator, Equidam, and CalcXML ask for basic financial inputs and return an estimated range.
What they do well: Quick sanity check. Good for understanding the basic math. Forces you to think about your numbers.
What they miss: Industry nuance, local market conditions, owner dependency, marketing infrastructure quality, customer concentration, growth trajectory, and the intangible factors that move multiples up or down by 50% or more. A calculator cannot ask your best customer if they would stay after a sale.
Use online tools for a starting range. Then validate with a broker or appraiser. Do not walk into a negotiation with a number from a free calculator. Buyers will not take it seriously.
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Owners Make When Valuing Their Business
After working with business owners across multiple industries, we see the same mistakes over and over. Each one costs real money at the negotiating table.
Running Personal Expenses Through the Business
Your truck, your wife's car, your home office renovation, your family cell phone plan, your fishing trip that was technically a "client entertainment" expense. Every dollar of personal expense you run through the business lowers your SDE. And every dollar of lower SDE gets multiplied.
The math: $100,000 in personal expenses x 5x multiple = $500,000 lost in business value.
You saved maybe $25,000 in taxes. You lost $500,000 in sale price. That is a 20:1 ratio in the wrong direction.
Overvaluing Based on Revenue Instead of Profit
"We do $2M in revenue" is the most common opening line we hear from owners. Revenue does not pay the bills. A $2M business with $50,000 in profit is worth less than a $600,000 business with $200,000 in profit. Buyers buy earnings, not revenue. Unless you are a high-growth SaaS company with 40%+ year-over-year growth, your revenue number is a vanity metric in the valuation conversation.
Ignoring Owner Dependency
Most owners do not realize they are the single point of failure in their own business until a buyer points it out. If you are the top salesperson, the main client relationship holder, the one who approves every invoice, and the person who opens the shop every morning, you are not selling a business. You are asking someone to buy a very expensive job. This alone can cut your valuation by 25 to 35 percent. Read our guide on owner-independent marketing for specific steps to fix this.
No Documentation
If a buyer asks "how do you generate leads?" and your answer is "I just kind of know," you have a problem. Businesses without documented processes, marketing playbooks, vendor relationships, and operational procedures are perceived as higher risk. Higher risk means lower multiple. Documented businesses sell 2 to 3 times faster because buyers can see exactly what they are buying. Start with documenting your marketing processes.
Waiting Too Long to Prepare
The worst time to start preparing for a sale is when you need to sell. Health issues, burnout, partner disputes, and market downturns force owners into rushed exits where buyers hold all the leverage. 58% of small business owners have no transition plan at all. The SBA recommends starting exit planning 3 to 5 years before your target date. At minimum, start 24 months out. Read our exit preparation timeline for a month-by-month breakdown.
What Buyers Actually Look At (From the Other Side of the Table)
Understanding how buyers think changes everything about how you prepare. About 44% of business buyers are "corporate refugees" leaving careers to buy a business they can run. They are smart, cautious, and doing the most expensive research of their lives. Here is what they actually ask during due diligence, and what your answers tell them.
"How do most new customers find you?"
If the answer is "they just find us" or "word of mouth, I guess," the buyer hears: this owner has no idea where leads come from, which means I cannot predict future revenue. This is a red flag.
Better answer: "38% from Google organic, 25% from Google Ads, 20% from referrals, 12% from email marketing, 5% from social. Here is our cost per lead by channel."
"Is there a written manual for anything?"
Buyers are looking for proof that the business can run without the owner. A 50-page operations manual, a documented marketing playbook, and a clear org chart with defined roles tell the buyer: this is a system, not a person.
No manual? The buyer mentally drops the multiple by 0.5x to 1.0x. On a $200K SDE business, that is $100,000 to $200,000 gone.
"What happens if you disappear for two weeks?"
This is the owner dependency test in one sentence. If the honest answer is "the place falls apart," the buyer is looking at 6 to 12 months of post-sale transition where you are training them full time. That transition period gets priced into the deal, usually as an earnout or holdback that reduces your upfront cash.
Best answer: "My team handles everything. I was on vacation for three weeks in March and revenue was up 4%."
"Who owns the website, domain, and social media accounts?"
You would be surprised how often the answer is "my old marketing guy set all that up." If digital assets are not clearly owned by the business entity, that creates legal complexity and risk. Buyers will discount for it or require resolution before closing.
Our digital assets guide covers exactly how to audit and transfer ownership of every digital property before going to market.
"If they can't hand over a playbook, you're buying improv theater, not a business."
Overheard from a serial acquirer at a BizBuySell conference panel.
The takeaway: buyers are not just buying your revenue. They are buying confidence that the revenue will continue. Every piece of documentation, every diversified lead source, every system that runs without you adds to that confidence and translates directly into a higher offer.
How to Increase Your Business Value Before Selling
You now know how businesses are valued, what moves the multiple, and what buyers look for. Here are the specific actions you can take over the next 12 to 36 months to increase what your business is worth.
1. Reduce Owner Dependency
Start by identifying every task only you can do. Then build a plan to delegate, automate, or document each one. Hire a manager or promote internally. The goal: your business runs the same (or better) whether you are there or not.
This single change can move your multiple from 2.5x to 4x. On $200K SDE, that is the difference between a $500K and $800K sale price. Read the full playbook in our guide on exit optimization for owner-dependent businesses.
2. Build an Email List
An email list is a transferable asset. Buyers see it as an owned audience they can market to from day one. At roughly $1 per subscriber per year in attributed value, a 10,000-subscriber list adds meaningful value to your sale price.
Start with a lead magnet relevant to your customers, build a simple opt-in on your website, and send a monthly newsletter. Even 12 months of consistent list building changes the conversation at the negotiating table.
3. Diversify Your Traffic Sources
If all your leads come from one channel, you have a single point of failure. Google changes an algorithm, Facebook raises ad costs, a referral partner retires, and suddenly your pipeline is empty.
Aim for at least four lead sources: organic search (SEO), paid advertising, email marketing, and referrals or partnerships. Each additional channel reduces buyer risk and supports a higher multiple.
4. Document Everything
Create standard operating procedures for every repeatable process: lead follow-up, customer onboarding, service delivery, billing, marketing campaigns, vendor management. Use screen recordings, checklists, or a simple Google Doc.
A buyer who can read your playbook and say "I understand how this works" will pay 20 to 30 percent more than one who has to figure it out. Our marketing documentation guide walks through the exact format we recommend.
5. Clean Up Digital Asset Ownership
Make sure your business (not you personally, not your old web developer, not your cousin who set up your Facebook page) owns every digital asset: domain name, website hosting, Google Business Profile, social media accounts, ad accounts, analytics properties, and email lists.
Transfer everything to business-owned accounts. Our digital assets checklist covers all 14 assets you need to audit before a sale.
6. Get Your Financials Clean
Stop running personal expenses through the business at least 24 months before your target sale date. Hire a bookkeeper or accountant to produce clean monthly financials. Make sure your tax returns, P&Ls, and balance sheets tell a clear story.
Buyers will request 3 to 5 years of tax returns. If the numbers are a mess, they will either walk or discount heavily for "financial uncertainty."
7. Invest in SEO (12+ Months Before Sale)
Organic traffic is one of the few marketing investments that becomes a transferable asset. SEO adds 10 to 30 percent to business valuation because buyers see it as ongoing, low-cost lead generation they inherit.
Start at least 12 months before your planned exit. Build local content, earn backlinks, fix technical issues, and create a content library that demonstrates topical authority. If you need help, our SEO agency services include exit-focused SEO packages.
8. Reduce Client Concentration
If one client provides more than 20% of your revenue, make a plan to add 10 to 20 smaller clients over the next 12 to 24 months. This is especially important for contractors and professional services firms where a handful of big accounts often dominate.
Our client concentration guide covers specific strategies: adding a second service line, expanding your service area, and building inbound marketing that attracts a broader base.
Not sure where to start?
Take the free Exit Marketing Score to find out which of these areas needs the most attention. Then download the Exit Marketing Toolkit ($17) for a self-guided action plan. If you want someone to do the heavy lifting, our Exit Marketing Audit ($350) provides a custom roadmap based on your specific business.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I figure out what my business is worth before talking to brokers?
Start by calculating your Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) or EBITDA, then multiply by the typical multiple for your industry. SDE works for owner-operated businesses under $1M in earnings. EBITDA applies to larger businesses with management teams. You can get a rough estimate using online valuation tools, but a professional appraisal ($3,000 to $10,000) gives you a defensible number for negotiations. The median sale price for small businesses in 2025 was $350,000 according to BizBuySell data.
What is the most common valuation method for small businesses?
The SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings) multiple method is the most common for small businesses with less than $1M in annual earnings. You calculate SDE by taking net income and adding back owner salary, personal expenses, depreciation, interest, and one-time costs. Then multiply by an industry-specific multiple, typically 2x to 4x for most small businesses. Businesses with strong marketing infrastructure, documented processes, and low owner dependency command the higher end of that range.
How long does it take to get a business valuation?
An online valuation tool gives you a rough estimate in 15 to 30 minutes. A broker opinion of value takes 1 to 2 weeks and is usually free (brokers provide them to win your listing). A Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) or ASA-accredited appraiser takes 4 to 8 weeks for a formal valuation report that holds up in court, during divorces, or in partner disputes. If you are planning to sell within the next 24 months, start with a broker opinion to get a range, then invest in a formal appraisal if the numbers look favorable.
Does marketing really affect business valuation?
Yes, and the impact is larger than most owners realize. Email lists add approximately $1 per subscriber per year to attributed value (a 10,000-subscriber list is worth roughly $120,000 over its lifetime). Strong SEO adds 10 to 30 percent to valuation by creating owned traffic assets. Documented marketing SOPs reduce buyer risk and help businesses sell 2 to 3 times faster. A diversified marketing infrastructure signals to buyers that the business will keep generating leads without the current owner.
What is the difference between SDE and EBITDA?
SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings) includes the owner's salary and personal benefits added back into earnings. It represents the total financial benefit to one working owner. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) does not add back owner compensation. EBITDA is used for businesses with revenue above $1M to $2M that have a management team in place. The key difference: SDE assumes the buyer will replace the owner. EBITDA assumes management stays and the owner is not operationally involved.
How much does a professional business valuation cost?
Broker opinions of value are typically free (brokers provide them hoping to win your listing). Online valuation tools range from free to $500. A professional valuation from a Certified Business Appraiser costs $3,000 to $10,000 depending on business complexity, revenue size, and the level of detail required. Formal appraisals for litigation, divorce, or estate planning run $5,000 to $15,000+. For most small business owners exploring a sale, start with a free broker opinion and invest in a formal appraisal only if you are serious about selling.
Can I value my business myself?
You can estimate your business value using the SDE or EBITDA multiple method. Calculate your adjusted earnings, research comparable multiples for your industry, and apply the range. However, self-valuations tend to be 20 to 40 percent higher than market reality because owners factor in sweat equity and emotional attachment that buyers do not pay for. A third-party valuation removes bias and gives you a number grounded in what buyers actually pay for businesses like yours.
What makes a business unsellable?
The top reasons businesses fail to sell: extreme owner dependency (the business cannot function without you), single-client concentration above 30 percent of revenue, declining financials over 2+ years, unresolvable legal or regulatory issues, lease problems, and no documented processes. Roughly 80 percent of businesses that go to market never complete a sale. The most common killer is owner dependency, where buyers see that they are purchasing a job rather than a business.
How far in advance should I start preparing my business for sale?
Start preparing 24 to 36 months before your target exit date. This gives you time to clean up financials (12 months of clean books minimum), reduce owner dependency, document processes, build marketing infrastructure, and demonstrate growth trends. Businesses prepared 3+ years in advance sell for 25 to 50 percent more than those rushed to market. Even if you are not planning to sell soon, building a sellable business makes it more profitable to run day-to-day.
What is the Exit Marketing Score?
The Exit Marketing Score is a free assessment tool that measures how your marketing infrastructure affects your business valuation. Unlike financial valuation tools, it evaluates the marketing factors that buyers examine during due diligence: owner dependency in marketing, lead source diversification, digital asset ownership, documentation quality, and brand strength. Your score indicates whether your marketing adds to or subtracts from your business value, and provides specific recommendations for improvement.
Written by
Sep Gaspari
Founder & Digital Marketing Strategist, Zio Advertising | Kelowna, BC
15+ years in digital marketing, Google Ads, and SEO. I've helped businesses across 12+ industries generate qualified leads and grow revenue through data-driven strategies. I don't just run campaigns—I obsess over results, test relentlessly, and treat your budget like it's my own.
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