EBITDA Multiple Valuation Explained
Two businesses, same industry, same EBITDA — one sells for 4x, the other for 7x. Why? Six drivers buyers actually score: size, growth, recurring revenue, customer concentration, management depth, and market position. With a scoring framework you can apply before you go to market.
EBITDA Multiples by Industry (2026)
What multiple should your business sell for? A 2026 industry-by-industry breakdown of EBITDA multiples for lower-middle-market deals: home services 4-6x, SaaS 8-15x, manufacturing 5-7x, and what drives the spread inside each band.
Rule of Thumb Business Valuation
Industry rules of thumb give a starting valuation range: HVAC at 0.5x revenue, accounting at 1x fees, dental at 0.7x-1x collections. Here are 15 industry rules of thumb — with sources, caveats, and how to use them.
Business Valuation Methods Compared
Five valuation methods set the price of every lower-middle-market deal: market multiples, DCF, asset approach, rules of thumb, and precedent transactions. Here’s when each one is used — and which one buyers actually pay.
DCF Valuation for Business Sale
DCF valuation projects 5 years of cash flow, adds a terminal value, and discounts everything to today. Here’s how owner-operators of $1M-$25M EBITDA businesses should think about DCF — and why EBITDA multiples still rule.
Company Valuation Calculator Guide
How a company valuation calculator differs from a small business calculator, the four valuation approaches calculators apply, and when to use each one for private companies in the lower middle market.
Business Valuation Calculator Explained
How online business valuation calculators work, why they get the headline number wrong, and the EBITDA × multiple framework professional buyers actually use to value lower-middle-market businesses.
Seller Financing & Seller Notes Explained
30-50% of lower-middle-market deals include seller financing. The 7 terms that decide whether the note is a fair deal or a trap, when to demand a personal guarantee, and how to structure the security.
Non-Compete & Non-Solicit in Business Sale
Sellers sign non-competes in 95%+ of M&A deals. The 4 dimensions buyers negotiate (duration, geography, industry, activity), what’s enforceable in 2026, and how to avoid being locked out of your industry for 5 years.