How much $ would it take for you to sell your business? 🧐

[isabelle]

Hey Seller Community 💡 This week we've got an interesting question for you. 

While we know many of you love business ownership, we are wondering...

How much $ would it take for you to sell your business? 🧐

We're curious to read your responses. Feel free to include why you picked the number you did! 

[K1shapooh]

Lakissha's Therapeutic MUsic will be here longer than the owner will be alive in Jesus name. The owner does not intend to sell.  This business will til the day be behind THESE ARTISTS. We are LEGENDARY.

[quikone]

4.8 million plus possible requirements.

[Michael_L]

It would probably be difficult to sell my business for a price that would make me happy.  It's tough to put a hard value on our "product" because photography is mostly a service -- there isn't much inventory, and someone unskilled in photography would have a tricky time taking over.  Our company has been growing in the last couple years as well so I'm not inclined to sell at all.

Having said that, I'd want to be paid a fair price for our equipment plus probably 2 years' of my salary.  It's probably unrealistic to expect that (?) and if I was ready to retire I would be open to a gradual take-over plan or maybe a monthly dividend for a set period of time ... tough to say!

[NfnAli]

I would say just the business alone without the property and the business make profit. The sales price would be 3 months of gross sales.

[Botleys3405]

well 3 million and i tell you why. i could probably talk the building owners into selling the building with my shop which means not only do you get my shop and customers in the deal. you get the building and the other rental tenants as well. only stipulation is i want cash only no checks and no money transfers and if you want to continue using my business name i would require only 10% of the gross profit yearly sales per year. 

[Wmichael1987]

I have a successful locksmith company that I built from the ground up. My blood, sweat, and literal tears have gone into the bones of this company. My price to sell? Realistically? 5 million firm. I would even stay on for a year to help train new people and give guidance on the inner workings of the company. Obviously I would take a percentage for that year while still working for the new owner. However, I really don't know that I would sell. If I ever receive the kind of offer that I would want I would most definitely have to find a very quiet place to think. 

[GourmetOnWheels]

6 million cash no bitcoin and I am off to the South Of France.  Then start a cheese shop with North American cheeses only.

Fromage Kaas Fromagio

René

[weredoughcookie]

Financially, in just what we have in debt and equipment at least $300k. 

Emotionally, it would probably have to be enough that I would never have to work again in my life (only 29 so it would be up there).

Its only a little over 2 years old but I have big big plans for this baby and I don't really trust anyone else to see it through.

[aonenterprises]

I have thought about this question alot! I am an independent restaurant owner. I live in a town of close to a 1000 people. We have a ton of tourism traffic. Here are my questions.. Is it 3 years gross or 3 years net? Either way I am not sure that I could get 3 years sales out of it. (But you never know) Therefore, I would probably sell it for 1 years gross and a percentage over that. Would love love love 3 years gross. 

Would be interesting to see what kinds of business everyone has when they bring up their sales price. 

[CraftDonuts]

I sold a large website a couple years ago and we were asking for and received 1.5x gross sales.  However, being a content based website all income was from advertising sales and overhead was very low...net profits were 80% of gross sales.  It was a 18 year old website with a valuable domain name, globally recognized brand and over 2 million registered users so we could ask top dollar. 

Now that I have a restaurant based business it would be very different since profit margins are only around 50% and there are assets, etc. 

I usually build up every business with the plan of selling it or taking on investors to expand.  Just don't forget that the government will be there waiting to steal from your gains when it is all said and done.  Make sure to keep clear records of what capital you put into building your business so that you can negate these against your sale price.

I think I would sell my business now for the value of the assets and 2x net sales and sleep pretty good.  I would probably spend 6 months chilling out with the family and then get busy starting something new.

[jennifer75]

I think 2-3 revenues plus assets is a fmv, and would pass an appraisal.  We are growing at a steady and rapid pace, so the consistent growth needs to be factored in to the potential sales price.  My target price is 2 million, because it will be a fair and reasonable price.  I think I would take a lovely vacation from working non stop, and then figure out what the next venture will be!   

[ChadFaraj]

It would have to be enough money to cover building at least 3-5 more businesses. It would have to be at least 6 figures to even consider it, and id have to keep a percentage of profit

[TheRealChipA]

Wow @isabelle .  Such a timely topic for me to read and think about.  I’ve especially enjoyed reading the perspectives of others who might not be thinking about selling yet, but gave it some thought anyway.  A few of those replies gave me some more interesting things to consider in my own situation.

I turn 61 in a few weeks.  My husband and I have been working our entire life together to get ourselves to a place where we can retire and start checking things off our respective bucket lists!  Part of our downsizing now is selling properties, including the one that houses Piper’s and a bunch of small office spaces (called Hamelin Square).  While I hope to run Piper’s for a few more years yet, there’s always the possibility that an offer on the property includes an offer to buy Piper’s for an additional, yet to be determined amount.  So, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought!

I want to be sure that whoever buys it can comfortably keep it running in some form.  The only financial goals I would have would be to pay off existing debt, which is not all that much, and to make enough to add to the bucket list fund.  And, of course, I have to remember that no one is going to get filthy rich by running and ice cream shop (eh, @Pesso ?!) so I don’t want to cripple them from the outset, especially since I have a pretty good idea of what their profit will be every year.

Anyway, my absolute drop-dead number (in my head only) is 1 year of gross revenue.  I think the name equity (including social media reviews), neighborhood good will and the equipment alone are worth that.  Cash is lovely.  Cash and some form of revenue sharing arrangement is also perfectly acceptable.  My asking price will be 1-1/2x a year of gross revenue.  And, of course, I’ll compromise especially if the person that buys it also buys the entire property and doesn’t quibble on the asking price for that.  How’s that for a simple, straight forward, clear answer? Ha.

In the end, I am proud of what we have created here.  I want it to survive me.  That’s worth flexibility.

[Twiggy]

Difficult one - my business trading name is my name - hence Twig If someone offered the right money I’d happily sell the ® business name, websites and everything. I’d have to see what the terms would be for a value - like can I trade in a certain area etc. 

[VanKalkerFarms]

Funny you should ask.  We received an unsolicited inquiry about selling our business a month ago.  Never crossed my mind to sell.  We are a 4th generation garden center that was also a farm.  My plan was it just being bought by my kids in 10-15 years just like I bought out my parents etc.  Well, we had to come up with a number and there are so many ways to come up with a value of a business.  We ended up doing a combination of the value of the business's physical property and structures (there is so much that goes into changing a piece of bare property into a business besides just a structure) plus a 5x multiple of our yearly EBITDA.  

so we offered at 4.5 million and are in negotiations.  I don't give it a high chance but I'm putting it at 1 in 3.

Definitely, an eye-opening experience into my own thoughts and theory's on the business.

[MichiganFarmsta]

Great Response.  We are moving into a maturing phase of the business.  We trying to set a number for life insurance for the partners.  Its an interesting exersize.

[vaniktech]

As an entrprenuer, I feel extremely connected to my business. Oddly enough, the saying "the business is my baby" feel true to it's expression. Maybe once the child has grown to a level of maturity and I feel like I have done all I can do, a sale would be inevitable. At this time, it's not for sale!

[ProsperityPools]

In our business an appraiser told us to take the number of customers x the amount they pay for monthly service and times that by 12 months. They said not to factor in all the repairs and remodels, because those are also based on the number of customers. Also, the new owner would probably have their own repair and remodel methods, so it wouldn't apply to the sale. So, for example: 100 customers x $160/mo (some pay more, some maybe less but let's say that's an average) x 12 = $192,000.   That's just an example of how to figure it out, at least for the pool business. This method wouldn't work with, say, a retail business.

[lenjobakes]

The most reasonable answer on this thread 😅

[geekster]

Well as Dr. Evil would say How about No!!

after all, watch as some just run right into the ground. 

[QuokkaCoffee]

I was just thinking about this the other day!

I know it'll take me closer to three years to get the most accurate valuation on the business, establish multiple streams of revenue and not just sell the business based on coffee sales alone, etc. 

We've also generated enough goodwill amongst our customer base that I'm not really sure how to calculate for it. Trying to answer the question only leads to more questions: What is the lifetime value of a guest? How can I measure the word-of-mouth advertising they do for us?

Short answer: perhaps a year or two of gross revenue that's enough to pay off investor debt, reward loyal staff, and take a much needed holiday somewhere where someone makes coffee for me--not the other way round!

But yeah, on really bad days I'd probably give it away for free. Hell, I might even empty our tip jar to pay someone to take Quokka Coffee off my hands. 😂