Evaluating a business

Reading the numbers, the multiple, and the story behind why it's for sale.

What is SDE, and how is it calculated?
Seller's Discretionary Earnings is the number a small business's asking price is built on. How it's calculated, how it differs from EBITDA, and where add-backs inflate it.
6 min read
SDE multiples: what sellers are actually asking
Median asking multiples from 3,768 live listings: 2.4× SDE overall, rising to 4.2× for physical businesses earning $1M+, plus the spread by category.
7 min read