Small businesses are usually priced as a multiple of the owner's real earnings. Here is how that works, and what businesses like yours have sold for.
Earnings first, then a multiple
Buyers of small businesses look at seller's discretionary earnings (SDE): pre-tax profit plus one owner's pay and benefits, plus one-time or personal expenses run through the business. If the business earns $120,000 in profit, you pay yourself $90,000 and you run $10,000 of personal costs through it, SDE is about $220,000.
The price is then that number times a multiple. Across all sectors, BizBuySell reports an average multiple of about 2.6 times SDE for businesses sold from mid-2021 to mid-2026. It varies a lot by sector, size and quality.
Quick estimate
Uses the average reported multiple for your sector. Real prices run well above and below it.
For 2025, BizBuySell's market table shows 36 reported sales in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News area, with a median sale price of $412,500, an average cash flow multiple of 2.59, and a median of 262 days on the market (source). Thirty-six is a small sample, and many local deals never appear on a marketplace.
What this number is not
It is not an appraisal, a broker opinion of value or an offer. A real valuation looks at your actual financials, customer base, lease, growth and risks. Businesses with recurring revenue and a team that runs without the owner commonly sell above average, and owner-dependent businesses commonly sell below it. The honest next step is a conversation about your specifics.
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