Free valuation calculator · 23 industries
Your market range in 60 seconds — from reported sales of comparable businesses. Anonymous, no email needed.
60-second estimate — no email needed
EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Owner's cash flow (also called seller's discretionary earnings) starts there and adds back your own salary and personal expenses run through the business — it's usually the bigger, more relevant number for an owner-operated business. Enter whichever one you have as a percent of revenue; most owner-run businesses land between 15% and 30%.
Between the bottom and the top of your range: …
Vera is Sentinel’s AI. Ask her anything about your business — your value, what raises it, who would buy it, when to sell. One email opens your free, private account, and she’s there any hour.Vera is Sentinel’s AI. One email opens your free, private account — she’s there any hour.
This is a quick, rule-of-thumb estimate for illustration — not an appraisal, an offer, or a guarantee of price, timeline, or buyer interest. A real number requires a look at your actual financials.
Rather talk it through? A senior member of our deal team will walk you through your number — 15 minutes, confidential.
How the estimate works
Owner’s cash flow (SDE) for an owner-run business; adjusted EBITDA once you’re larger. What counts →
The range comparable businesses in your sector and size trade at. All 23 industries →
Where you land inside it depends on risk — recurring revenue, team depth, concentration — and how many buyers compete.
Buyers in the lower middle market price a business as a multiple of its adjusted EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, with owner-specific costs added back: your above-market salary, family members on payroll, personal expenses run through the business, one-time costs. For an owner-operated business the same idea is often called owner’s cash flow or seller’s discretionary earnings, and it is usually the bigger, more relevant number. Which add-backs hold up in diligence — and which get rejected — is covered in our owner’s guide to adjusted EBITDA and add-backs.
The calculator multiplies that earnings figure by the rule-of-thumb multiple range for your industry and size — the same industry-standard ranges we publish in our EBITDA multiples by industry guide. These are starting points drawn from how each sector typically trades, not an appraisal of your business: within every sector the spread between the bottom and top of the range is decided by risk — recurring revenue, management depth, customer concentration, clean financials, staff retention — and by how many qualified buyers are actually competing.
That is why the honest next step after any online estimate is a look at your actual numbers. Ask Vera inside your free account — or send them below and a senior member of our deal team reviews them: a realistic range and the two or three things that would move it. It costs nothing, commits you to nothing, and nothing is shared with anyone. If you want the fuller picture first, start with What is my business worth? — the honest, unsimplified answer.
Prefer a person?
Send the basics and a senior member of our deal team reviews them personally: a realistic range and the two or three things that would move it. It costs nothing, commits you to nothing, and nothing is shared with anyone.
Or call (888) 560-5852
Every inquiry is reviewed personally by a senior member of our deal team — never a call center.
Questions owners actually ask
Most strong businesses trade on a multiple of adjusted earnings — and the range is wide. The same business can price very differently depending on buyer type, revenue quality, real estate, and how the process is run. The calculator above gives you an indicative range from reported sales of comparable businesses; a look at your actual financials narrows it.
Nothing. The valuation conversation is free and confidential. If we work together, our economics are success-based — we’re paid when your deal closes.
The calculator applies industry-standard rule-of-thumb EBITDA multiple ranges to the numbers you enter — a starting point, not an appraisal. It can tell you the range businesses like yours have traded in; where YOUR business lands inside that range depends on details no calculator sees, which is what Vera and a look at your actual financials are for.
No. The calculator asks for no name and no email, and nothing you enter creates an inquiry. If you later want a real read from a principal, that conversation is confidential by policy — nothing is shared with any buyer without a signed NDA and your written go-ahead.