Owner-run trades sell for 2–3x SDE. Businesses that run without you: 6–10x EBITDA.
Three questions. Your range shows straight away, no email needed.
How it works
For an owner-operated business, buyers work from SDE, seller’s discretionary earnings. That is your net profit with your salary, your personal expenses run through the business, and one-off costs added back. Owner-run trades sell for 2 to 3 times SDE.
Once a business runs with a general manager in place, buyers switch to EBITDA, which does not add the owner’s salary back, because a buyer would have to pay someone to do that job. Businesses that run without the owner trade at 6 to 10 times EBITDA. That is why the calculator asks what a general manager would cost.
What moves it
Maintenance agreements and service contracts are the single biggest lever in these trades.
A general manager or operations lead who runs the day to day without you.
Three years of consistent financials. Every hour a buyer spends untangling your accounts gets priced into the discount.
If one builder or property manager is more than a fifth of your revenue, a buyer is buying that relationship, not your company.
One 30 minute call with the buyer. You tell us what the business does and how much of it runs through you, and we will tell you what we think it is worth and what we would pay for it. No obligation.
Get my real number or call 448-288-6406The ranges this calculator uses are general market observations for Florida home service businesses, offered for orientation only. They are not a valuation, an appraisal, or an offer, and no specific business should be assumed to fall within them. Any figure we discuss on a call is indicative and subject to review of financial information and to the business meeting Dhamma Capital Partners’ acquisition criteria. Dhamma Capital Partners is a buyer of businesses, not a broker, a licensed appraiser, or a financial adviser, and nothing here is investment, tax or legal advice.