How small businesses are actually priced.
SDE × a multiple
Seller's Discretionary Earnings — profit plus your salary, perks, and documented add-backs — times a market multiple, commonly 2–3.5× for main-street businesses. Which end of that range you get is not luck.
Proof, not promises
Books a buyer's accountant can verify. Revenue that doesn't depend on you personally. Customers that stay. A team and SOPs that transfer. Every one of these is fixable before listing — and priced into the offer if it isn't.
Individuals & SBA lenders
Most main-street buyers are individuals financing with SBA 7(a) loans — which means your business must convince a bank, not just a buyer. Tax returns that match the story and clean cash-flow proof widen your buyer pool.
Two businesses with identical revenue routinely sell for very different prices. The difference is almost always preparation: what can be verified, what transfers, and what the deal file proves. That's CPA work — which is why a CPA-led team runs the whole engagement here.
How we take a small business to market.
- Free Owner Consult, 30 minutes. Your numbers, your timeline, the two or three gaps most likely costing you value. Phone or in person, anywhere in Chicagoland.
- Exit-Readiness Review — $4,500 flat, two weeks. A readiness scorecard, a realistic value range built on evidence, and a prioritized 90-day fix list. If listing now is the right call, we say so.
- Preparation, where it pays. Books to a clean, GAAP-ready standard, documented add-backs, owner-dependence reduced, SOPs written, the diligence file built — from $2,500 a month, only as long as it's earning its keep.
- The sale itself. Evidence-backed pricing, a blind profile, NDAs before financials, vetted buyers — individual, SBA-financed, strategic, or search funds — then negotiation, diligence management, and closing coordination.
- Or sell to us directly. When the fit is right, Lakeshore takes a stake or buys outright: no listing period, no marketing exposure, no commission. Disclosed in writing up front, and you stay free to go to market instead.
Selling a small business, answered.
How are small businesses priced?
On a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings — typically 2–3.5× for main-street businesses, depending on industry, transferability, and how verifiable the numbers are. The multiple moves most on what a buyer's accountant can confirm in diligence.
How long does a sale take?
Commonly 6 to 9 months from listing to closing in the Chicago market, plus preparation time before listing. Clean, verifiable financials shorten diligence; messy books stretch it and frequently cut the price along the way.
Will my buyer use an SBA loan?
Very likely, if the buyer is an individual. That means your business must satisfy a lender as well as a buyer: tax returns that match the story, verifiable cash flow, and workable transition terms. We build the deal package with SBA underwriting in mind.
Can you keep the sale confidential?
Yes — blind profile, buyer vetting, NDAs before financials, and communication with employees, customers, and suppliers timed for when the deal is certain. In a small team, that discipline matters more, not less.
Is my business too small for you?
We're built for roughly $1M–$15M in revenue. Below that, a good main-street listing broker is often the right answer — and we'll tell you so in the free consult, along with what to ask them. Our guide to broker fees and choosing a Chicago broker will help either way.
Thirty minutes. Your numbers. A straight answer.
What your small business is likely worth, who the realistic buyer is, and whether to list now or prepare first. Useful whether or not we ever work together.
Send this on a weekday between 9 and 5 and an advisor calls you within the hour. Evenings and weekends, first thing the next business morning. No newsletter, no drip sequence.
Thanks — an advisor will call you within the hour if it's a weekday before 5pm. Otherwise, first thing the next business morning.
Prefer to talk now? (312) 278-2109 — weekdays 9–5, a person answers.