ORIGINAL COMPARISON · AUGUST 2026
Enter owner earnings. See 26 market answers.
Type any annual SDE from $25K to $10M—or start with a preset—to see how the same earnings translate across reported US business-type multiples.
PROFIT-TO-VALUE MATRIX
Industry changes the starting point.
Every row uses the SDE you choose. Only the reported average business-type multiple changes, making the market spread easy to see.
The amount stays in this browser and is never sent with analytics.
Showing $250,000 of annual SDE across 26 reported business-type multiples.
Nail salons · 1.74×
Median of the industry indications
Car washes · 4.87×
Same SDE, before company-specific factors
Copy a concise market snapshot with its public source link. Your SDE is shared only when you choose to copy it.
| Rank | Business type | Average SDE multiple | Implied value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Car washes | 4.87×price ÷ SDE | $1,217,500$250,000 × 4.87 | |
| #2 | Laundromats & coin laundries | 3.70×price ÷ SDE | $925,000$250,000 × 3.70 | |
| #3 | Websites & ecommerce businesses | 3.37×price ÷ SDE | $842,500$250,000 × 3.37 | |
| #4 | Daycare & child care centers | 3.28×price ÷ SDE | $820,000$250,000 × 3.28 | |
| #5 | IT & software service businesses | 3.22×price ÷ SDE | $805,000$250,000 × 3.22 | |
| #6 | Home health care businesses | 3.00×price ÷ SDE | $750,000$250,000 × 3.00 | |
| #7 | Trucking companies | 3.00×price ÷ SDE | $750,000$250,000 × 3.00 | |
| #8 | Insurance agencies | 2.87×price ÷ SDE | $717,500$250,000 × 2.87 | |
| #9 | Auto repair shops | 2.85×price ÷ SDE | $712,500$250,000 × 2.85 | |
| #10 | HVAC businesses | 2.83×price ÷ SDE | $707,500$250,000 × 2.83 | |
| #11 | Electrical & mechanical contractors | 2.77×price ÷ SDE | $692,500$250,000 × 2.77 | |
| #12 | Dental practices | 2.75×price ÷ SDE | $687,500$250,000 × 2.75 | |
| #13 | Property management businesses | 2.66×price ÷ SDE | $665,000$250,000 × 2.66 | |
| #14 | Staffing agencies | 2.66×price ÷ SDE | $665,000$250,000 × 2.66 | |
| #15 | Plumbing businesses | 2.61×price ÷ SDE | $652,500$250,000 × 2.61 | |
| #16 | Gyms & fitness centers | 2.54×price ÷ SDE | $635,000$250,000 × 2.54 | |
| #17 | Moving & shipping businesses | 2.52×price ÷ SDE | $630,000$250,000 × 2.52 | |
| #18 | Landscaping & yard services | 2.49×price ÷ SDE | $622,500$250,000 × 2.49 | |
| #19 | Pest control businesses | 2.46×price ÷ SDE | $615,000$250,000 × 2.46 | |
| #20 | Accounting & tax practices | 2.27×price ÷ SDE | $567,500$250,000 × 2.27 | |
| #21 | Coffee shops & cafes | 2.27×price ÷ SDE | $567,500$250,000 × 2.27 | |
| #22 | Cleaning businesses | 2.25×price ÷ SDE | $562,500$250,000 × 2.25 | |
| #23 | Restaurants | 2.18×price ÷ SDE | $545,000$250,000 × 2.18 | |
| #24 | Hair salons & barbershops | 2.10×price ÷ SDE | $525,000$250,000 × 2.10 | |
| #25 | Food trucks | 2.03×price ÷ SDE | $507,500$250,000 × 2.03 | |
| #26 | Nail salons | 1.74×price ÷ SDE | $435,000$250,000 × 1.74 |
Swipe table to compare →
Calculations use public average cash-flow multiples reported by BizBuySell for completed US small-business sales during Q3 2021–Q2 2026. “Cash flow” refers to SDE. Averages are not a census, an offer, or a formal appraisal.
FROM COMPARISON TO VALUATION
The multiple answers only the first question.
The matrix isolates industry. A useful valuation also normalizes the earnings and evaluates the business a buyer would actually inherit.
Normalize SDE carefully.
One unsupported add-back can change every result in the table. Reconstruct owner benefit from actual financials before applying a multiple.
Build defensible SDEUse the closest business type.
Business model matters more than a broad label. Open a row to inspect its reported revenue multiple, median sale price, and valuation factors.
Compare every benchmarkPrice transferability.
Growth, recurring revenue, owner dependence, customer concentration, assets, and deal terms can move a company away from the average.
Check the value driversYOUR ACTUAL BUSINESS · PRIVATE
Move from one input to the whole business.
The matrix isolates SDE and industry. Create a private account to add revenue, assets, and operating context for a company-specific market reference. Contribute only when you want to unlock richer anonymized cohorts and comparables.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Reading the SDE matrix
How much is a business worth based on annual profit?
For many owner-operated small businesses, buyers start with seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE) rather than accounting net profit. Enter annual SDE in the matrix to multiply the same owner-earnings figure by reported average cash-flow multiples across 26 business types. A company-specific value still depends on transferability, growth, concentration, assets, and deal terms.
What is a business with $250,000 of SDE worth?
Applying the reported average cash-flow multiples for 26 specific business types produces indications from $435,000 to $1,217,500, with a median industry indication of $665,000. That is a market comparison, not a valuation of a particular company.
How is each value in the matrix calculated?
Each indication equals the selected annual SDE scenario multiplied by that business type’s reported average sale-price-to-cash-flow multiple. The matrix does not average revenue and SDE methods together.
Is SDE the same as net profit?
No. Seller’s discretionary earnings usually starts with pretax profit and adds back one owner’s compensation, interest, depreciation, amortization, and defensible personal or non-recurring expenses. Unsupported add-backs can overstate SDE.
Why can the same SDE imply different values by industry?
Buyer demand, capital requirements, recurring revenue, transferability, growth, concentration, and operating risk differ by business type. Industry is a useful starting lens, but the company’s own quality determines where it can land.
Does the comparison include real estate, debt, or working capital?
The matrix does not separately add real estate, subtract debt, or adjust working capital and inventory. Transaction structures differ, so those items must be evaluated when moving from a market reference to a company-specific valuation.