Most business owners don’t know what their business is worth. That’s a problem. Business Valuation is essential to your planning (and our business valuation calculator can help).
You can’t make good decisions without that number. Whether you’re thinking about hiring, planning an exit, or just trying to figure out if you’re on the right track, valuation matters. It gives you context. It helps you ask better questions and it makes conversations with banks, investors, partners, and even your team more real.
This business valuation calculator gives you a simple estimate. It’s built for small business owners. You won’t need financial modeling or a CPA. Just the numbers you already know—like revenue, profit, and whether your income is recurring.
Most importantly, this tool was built with coaching in mind. At Accountability Now, we don’t believe in vague metrics. We help business owners face their numbers honestly and use them as a starting point for growth.
How to Value a Business the Right Way — Not Just for Selling
Valuation isn’t just for people trying to sell. It’s for people trying to lead.
When you understand what your business is worth, you start making better long-term choices. You don’t just set revenue goals. It’s more than that. You build strategies to increase the multiple. You see the difference between short-term profit and long-term value. That mindset shift is what separates operators from owners.
You also start noticing things you didn’t before. Like how dependent your business is on you. Or how stable your revenue streams are. That clarity often changes where you focus your time.
Why gut-feel valuations fail small business owners
Too many business owners use “gut math” when it comes to what their company is worth. They’ll say, “I think my business is worth $1 million,” without running a single calculation. That number often comes from emotion, hope, or hearsay — not data.
The danger? False confidence.
False confidence leads to awkward conversations with investors. Missed opportunities with potential buyers. Confusion when talking to your accountant. And serious frustration when you realize that the number in your head isn’t backed by your numbers on paper.
Valuation isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being directionally correct — so you can plan, negotiate, and grow with clarity.
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The 3 methods that really matter for service-based businesses
If you run a service-based business, home services, small business, even a startup or SaaS company making under $10 million, forget complex finance models. These three methods matter most:
- SDE multiple: profit + owner salary × a typical multiple
- Market comps: what similar businesses in your industry sell for
- Income trend: are you growing, flat, or shrinking?
SDE Multiple (Seller’s Discretionary Earnings)
This method starts with your profit, adds back your salary (and sometimes a few other adjustments), then multiplies that number by an industry-standard range (often 2.5–4×). It’s the most common method used for small service businesses. It reflects the real cash flow available to a new owner.
Market Comparables
This is the “what are others like me selling for?” approach. You look at what similar companies — in size, industry, and business model — are actually selling for. It gives you a sanity check: are you in line with the market, above it, or falling short?
Income Trend
A business that’s growing 20% year over year is worth more than one that’s flat or declining. Period. Buyers and investors look closely at momentum — because they’re buying future potential, not just the past.
Why Small Business Valuation Is Often Overlooked (and Dangerous)
Valuation doesn’t feel urgent. So most people skip it. Until they can’t.
You think, “I’m not selling anytime soon.” But valuation isn’t just for selling. It’s a pulse check. It shows you whether your business is on the right track. It reveals how others see your business — not emotionally, but financially.
You’re focused on day-to-day operations — payroll, marketing, delivering for your customers. A valuation feels like something for “later.” Something for when you’re ready to sell.
But that mindset is a blind spot.
Valuation isn’t just about selling. It’s a pulse check on your business. It tells you what your company looks like from the outside — not based on how hard you’ve worked, but on what someone would actually pay for it.
And here’s the truth: the moment something shifts — a dip in revenue, a funding conversation, or a partnership opportunity — valuation becomes the most important number in the room.
It’s your baseline for decision-making. It answers: Are we building something valuable, or just busy?
The cost of guessing wrong — missed deals, missed growth
Here’s what happens when you don’t know your number: you either overshoot or undersell.
If you overvalue your business, you scare off real buyers. They look at your ask, laugh quietly, and walk. Or worse — they counter so low it feels insulting, and you walk away from a deal that could’ve changed your life.
If you undervalue it, you lose real money. You accept a check for less than what you built, simply because you didn’t have the tools to justify your value.
We’ve seen this firsthand. Founders with solid businesses couldn’t close deals because they couldn’t defend their price. Others went to banks or investors and got turned down because their “valuation” was a made-up number with no backup.
None of this is about being perfect. It’s about being prepared.
Even if you have no plans to sell tomorrow, knowing your valuation today helps you set the right strategy. It helps you reverse-engineer your goals. Want to sell in 5 years for $2 million? Great. Now you can build toward that, not wish for it.
Valuation isn’t a spreadsheet exercise. It’s a leadership habit.
How business coaching ties into accurate valuation
When we coach clients, we don’t just ask what they want. We ask what the business can support.
Your valuation shows you that. If it’s low, that’s not failure. It’s a signal. It tells us what to work on. Maybe the business is too owner-dependent. Maybe your margins are thin or your revenue isn’t recurring.
Coaching isn’t just motivation. It’s structure. And valuation gives us the map.
What Is My Business Worth? Let the Numbers Tell You
This question—“What is my business worth?”—is the one that’s on everyone’s mind, even if they don’t say it out loud.
It’s not just about curiosity. It’s about confidence. When you know what your business is worth, you feel more in control. You’re not just reacting. You’re operating from a clear foundation.
Most of the time, owners think the answer is based on revenue. Or gut. But what it’s really based on is repeatable earnings, risk, and market trends.
Key factors that influence what your business is worth
Here’s what actually matters:
- Annual revenue: the top line
- Net profit or EBITDA: what’s left after costs
- Owner’s salary: for calculating SDE
- Growth rate: are things speeding up or slowing down?
- Recurring revenue: how reliable your income is
- Industry: different sectors use different multiples
- Years in business: maturity often reduces risk
These are the things this calculator asks for. They’re also what a buyer, investor, or advisor would ask.
If you can answer these clearly, you’re ahead of most business owners.
Take this example: (SaaS vs. home services)
Let’s say your home services business does $750K in revenue and makes $150K in profit. With your salary added back, your SDE is $250K. Your industry might get a 2.5× multiple. That puts your valuation near $625K.
Now let’s say you run a SaaS company doing $750K in ARR, with high margins and strong retention. Your multiple might be 4–6×. That’s $3M to $4.5M.
It’s not that one business is better. It’s just different. The key is knowing which levers to pull. That’s what valuation shows you.
Valuing Your Small Business
This tool is free and takes just a few minutes. You enter the numbers you already know, and it gives you a valuation range
There’s no upsell. No login wall. It’s here to help you think more clearly about where you stand—and what could come next.
How to use the calculator in under 2 minutes
You’ll answer a few basic questions:
- Revenue
- Profit
- Your own salary
- Industry
- Years in business
- Recurring revenue
- Growth trend
- Owner involvement
Then it shows your estimated value. It also shows the multiple used, so you can understand the logic.
Stuck with questions?
If your valuation isn’t where you want it, that’s not the end of the story. It’s the beginning of a better plan.
At Accountability Now, we help business owners use these numbers to grow. No hype. No fluff. Just honest data and the work that comes next.
