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Business valuation calculator
Most owners are quoted a multiple they will never get. This uses the SDE multiples service businesses actually sell for, then adjusts for the thing that moves the number most: how much the business runs on you, the difference between 1.65x and 3.5x SDE. Free, and nothing is saved.
The one lever on your sale
What is your business worth?
Two businesses with identical earnings sell for different numbers, and the difference is mostly one thing: how much the business runs on you. Move the slider and watch a $300,000-SDE business travel between the two.
Seller’s discretionary earnings: net profit plus your pay, benefits, and one-time costs.
Example rough number
$774,000
$300,000 SDE × about 2.58x
That distance, about $555,000, is the biggest single swing in what the business sells for, and the one most in your control. Keystone maps where you sit in it.
See what is discounting your numberYour real estimate ranks the three things discounting your price and what to fix first, free in four minutes.
This is a rough public ballpark from the same closed-transaction data Keystone is calibrated on, not the Keystone valuation and not a formal appraisal. For a transaction, work with a certified business valuator, CPA, or M&A advisor. Your real estimated sale price reads your business on all 18 factors and prices in what a buyer sees, free in four minutes.
How the calculator works
Two inputs decide most of the answer: your SDE and your owner-dependence. The calculator scales the multiple by how much the business runs without you, and the owner-dependence slider sets where you land. That dependence is the single biggest swing: an owner-dependent service business trades near 1.65x SDE and an owner-light one near 3.5x, a $555,000 gap on a $300,000-SDE business.
The SDE-band table below is a different lens: what businesses of your size typically sell for. The two can differ, because an owner-run business can trade below the typical band and an owner-light one above it. The free four-minute diagnostic reconciles both for your specific business.
What service businesses actually sell for
These are SDE multiples (seller’s discretionary earnings), the Main Street reality, not the EBITDA multiples quoted for private-equity roll-ups. This is the typical range for a size; owner-dependence is the bigger swing, so a business that runs entirely on its owner can sell below it and an owner-light one above.
| Your SDE | Typical SDE multiple |
|---|---|
| Under $100K | 1.3x to 2.3x |
| $100K to $250K | 1.9x to 2.5x |
| $250K to $500K | 2.4x to 3.2x |
| $500K to $1M | 2.9x to 3.9x |
| $1M and up | 3.5x to 4.5x |
The all-industry median sits around 2x to 2.5x SDE, stable through COVID, the 2022 rate cycle, and 2025 tariff uncertainty. Source: BizBuySell Insight Reports, 2016 to 2026.
The honest limit
A calculator gives you the shape of the number. It cannot see your customer concentration, your books, your recurring mix, or the ten other things a buyer prices. The Keystone diagnostic can: it reads your business on all 18 factors, calibrated against 10 years of real closed transactions and checked against 1.6M+ SBA loan records, and it is free.
No online tool replaces a formal appraisal. What this does is tell you the number and, more useful, what is moving it, so you can close the gap on purpose.
Valuation calculator: common questions
- How does the business valuation calculator work?
- The calculator multiplies your seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE) by a multiple set by how much the business depends on you, scaling from about 1.65x when the business runs on you to 3.5x when it runs without you. The SDE-band table on the page is a separate lens, the typical range for a business your size, calibrated on a decade of BizBuySell closed transactions. It is a ballpark, not a formal appraisal.
- Is this the same as the Keystone valuation?
- No. This calculator is a quick public ballpark from the transaction bands; the Keystone diagnostic reads your business on all 18 factors and prices in what a buyer sees. The diagnostic is the real estimate, it is free, and it takes about four minutes.
- What multiple should I use to value my business?
- For a Main Street service business, use a multiple of SDE, not the EBITDA multiple quoted for private-equity deals. The single biggest swing is owner-dependence: an owner-dependent business trades near 1.65x SDE and an owner-light one near 3.5x, a $555,000 gap on a $300,000-SDE business.
Free in four minutes
Get the real number, not the ballpark
Three scores, an estimated sale price, and the ranked list of what is discounting your value.
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