Pre-Sale Prep  •  Free Tool

SBA Business Valuation Calculator

Most Main Street businesses are bought with an SBA loan. Enter your profit and see two numbers: what businesses your size typically list for, and the most a buyer's SBA financing could support. The distance between them is worth knowing before you go to market.

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Seller's Discretionary Earnings — profit plus the owner's salary, perks, interest, depreciation and one-time costs. Banks only credit add-backs you can document — aggressive ones get tossed in underwriting. Not sure what your SDE really is? That gap is exactly what Pre-Sale Prep fixes.
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A buyer has to pay themselves. Lenders almost always require at least $100,000 — we don't recommend going lower.
The lender's cushion. SBA allows as low as 1.2×, but 1.4× is the safer planning assumption.
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How much of the price you carry as a note. Expect to carry at least 10%; 20% is the norm and 30% is common.
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Cash the buyer puts in at closing, on top of the SBA loan and seller note. 10% is the most common ask; some buyers bring as little as 5%. 20%+ happens but is less common.
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Auto-set to the WSJ Prime Rate + 2.75%, the typical SBA 7(a) rate. Adjust if your lender differs.
Cash flow available for debt service (SDE − salary)
Annual debt service the loan can carry (÷ DSCR)
SBA loan size (10-yr term, present value)
+ Seller note (20% of price)
+ Buyer cash equity (10% of price)
− Closing costs & SBA guaranty fee (~5% of price)

What businesses your size typically list for

What a buyer's financing could support

A buyer agreeing to a price isn't the same as a deal closing.

It's common for a buyer to want to pay a certain price — but the bank orders its own valuation, and the loan still has to cover its payments (the DSCR). If the appraisal comes back lower, or the cash flow won't service the debt, the deal won't close on those terms. It's great that you believe your business is worth a number, and great if a buyer agrees — but the financing has to agree too.

Where you land in that range isn't luck.

Size and sell-readiness decide whether you're at the top of the range or below it — and both are fixable before you go to market. Book a free Exit Readiness Call → to see where your business really stands.

For general education only — not a business valuation, appraisal, financing commitment, or offer. Applies standard SBA 7(a) acquisition math (10-yr term; ~5% allowance for closing costs and the SBA guaranty fee) to the figures you enter; it does not verify your SDE and is not a lending decision. The "typical" range shown scales with your SDE and reflects the 25th–75th percentile of asking multiples for businesses near your size, from Pre-Sale Prep's Main Street Market Report (asking multiples typically run higher than closed-sale multiples). The financeable figure is a cash-flow ceiling on standard terms, not a prediction or a promise of price. Confirm everything with a qualified advisor and SBA lender.