How does the Business Valuation Estimator work?

It starts with adjusted profit: your operating profit before owner compensation, less a market-rate salary for whoever replaces you. It applies a typical lower-mid-market multiple for your industry and size, then adjusts that multiple for owner dependence, customer concentration, recurring revenue and financial hygiene. The result is shown as a range, about 15% either side of the midpoint.

Why is the estimate a range and not a single number?

Because a single number from nine inputs would be false precision. Buyers price the same business differently depending on their plans, the deal structure and what they find in due diligence. A range is the honest answer at this stage.

Is this a business valuation?

No. It is an estimate for orientation. A real valuation looks at three years of accounts, the customer list, contracts, the team and the market. Get one from a qualified professional before any decision that matters.

Business Valuation Estimator: what is my business worth?

What is my business actually worth?

Nine inputs, most of which you know off the top of your head. You get a value range, then every discount a buyer would apply to it, in multiple and in dollars. The range is free and needs no email. Only the emailed breakdown does.

How the estimate works, and where it will be wrong

The estimator follows the logic in the guide: buyers price adjusted profit, not revenue, and they move the multiple for how well the business runs without its owner. Five steps:

Adjusted profit. Your operating profit before owner compensation, less a market-rate salary for whoever does your job after you leave. The salary we assume depends on industry and revenue size and is shown on screen. If you pay yourself less than that, the gap comes off your profit before any multiple is applied.
Starting multiple. A typical lower-mid-market multiple of adjusted profit for your industry, between roughly 3x and 4.5x before size, nudged up as revenue grows, so a $25M to $50M business starts higher than a $5M one. Professional services sits at the lower end, manufacturing and healthcare services at the upper end.
Owner dependence. The largest single adjustment, built from your answers on what happens when you are unreachable and who manages below you. It ranges from about 1.2x off the multiple at worst to about 0.4x added at best.
Customer concentration and recurring revenue. A penalty that starts once one customer passes 15% of revenue and gets steeper past 30%. A premium that grows with the share of revenue that is contracted or reliably repeats.
Financial hygiene. A penalty when the accounts are only assembled at year end, a smaller one when they are monthly but rough. Buyers discount for surprises and then look harder.

The midpoint is adjusted profit multiplied by the final multiple. The range is about 15% either side of it, because a single number from nine inputs would be false precision. Two buyers can price the same business very differently depending on their plans and the deal structure.

What the estimator cannot see: growth trend, key-person contracts, working capital, debt, real estate, one-off items in the accounts, and how the deal is structured. Cash at completion, earn-outs and how long you have to stay all change what a headline number is actually worth.

This estimator gives an order of magnitude for planning conversations, not a valuation. Mind Shift does not value businesses for a fee and does not give tax, legal or regulated financial advice. Model and content © 2026 Mind Impact Ltd trading as Mind Shift. Nothing you enter is stored unless you request the breakdown.

What is my business actually worth?

Your business

How the estimate works, and where it will be wrong

Most of those discounts can be removed before you sell.