Why PrimeBizValue exists
There is a wide, awkward gap between a free online calculator that multiplies your revenue by a number it will not explain, and a formal opinion of value that costs $2,500 and takes three weeks. Almost every small-business owner who needs a number falls straight into that gap.
The gap this was built for
Most owners deciding whether to sell are not trying to litigate a valuation. They want to know one thing: is this business worth what I think it's worth, and would a buyer's lender agree? That question deserves a real answer, produced by a documented method, at a price that makes sense against the size of the decision.
What usually happens instead is guesswork. A number from what a neighbor got. A multiple someone heard at a conference. A broker's estimate delivered free, because the broker's actual product is the listing agreement. None of those are dishonest. They're just not built to be checked.
How the number gets built
Every report runs the same four steps, in the same order, on every business:
- Recast the financials. Owner compensation, one-time costs, non-operating expenses and discretionary spending get identified and added back to arrive at Seller's Discretionary Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA. The process is fixed, not improvised per deal.
- Apply a benchmarked multiple. The multiple comes from a fixed set of SDE-size tiers calibrated against published transaction data, not from an opinion about how nice the business seems.
- Test it against real financing. Buyer financing and debt service coverage are modeled before the number leaves the building, because an asking price a lender won't fund is not a valuation, it's a wish.
- Show the work. Every add-back, every assumption and every adjustment appears in the report. If you disagree with a line, you can point at it.
What we deliberately don't do
This matters as much as what we do.
We don't broker deals. We don't list businesses, don't represent buyers or sellers, and take no commission on any transaction. We have no financial interest in whether your deal closes or at what price. That independence is the entire reason the number is worth anything in a negotiation.
We don't issue certified appraisals. Every report says so plainly. This is an opinion of value built on a repeatable methodology. Where a formal appraisal is legally required, you need a credentialed appraiser, and we'll tell you that rather than take your money.
We don't sell your data. Financial information submitted here is used to produce and support your report. It is not sold, not brokered, and not turned into a lead product.
Who this is for
Owners thinking about selling and wanting a defensible starting number. Buyers testing whether an asking price survives contact with the debt. Anyone heading into an SBA conversation who would rather find out about a coverage problem now than at underwriting. And franchisors who want their franchisees walking into resale conversations with real numbers instead of guesses.
On transparency
We would rather tell you what a report cannot do than oversell what it can. The methodology is published on the Certification page, including the four criteria a report must meet before it carries the Prime Valuation Certification, and an explicit list of what that mark does not mean. If something on this site reads like a claim we haven't backed up, tell us and we'll either back it up or take it down.