DigitalExits

We Sell Your Online Business

Blog

7 Steps to Sell Your Business for the Best Price

By

1. Determine what your business is worth

A business is generally worth a multiple of its profit. Depending on the size of the deal that can be 2-10 times profit. Smaller deals generally average 2-3 times profit. medium deals 3-5 and large deals 5-10 times profit.

2. Prepare your financials with your accountant

Because a business is valued on it profit then good financials required. Preparing an adjusted profit and loss statement is required to present to buyers.

3.Find a broker or investment banker

Depending on the size of your deal and whether you have an unsolicited offer on the table, most companies will garner a higher valuation when sold using a banker or broker.

4.Develop the executive summary of your business

This is the document that outlines what the business is, financials and frequently asked questions to help the buyer make an offer.

5.Put your business on the market

Market your business to buyers looking to acquire a company.

6. Field offers from potential buyers

Receive offers from buyers and negotiate the best one.

7. Let the buyer perform due diligence

Buyers generally get 60-120 days to verify the financials and validate they are getting what they are paying for.

8. Close the deal

Time to celebrate! Sign the final contracts and the handover process starts.

 

FAQ’s On Selling A Business

How much is my business worth – You can sell your business for what the market will pay. It is the buyer that determines the price of a business. As it the market that determines value. That being said. A business is generally worth a multiple of the earnings. That means a value applied to the profit of your business.

How do you price your business for sale? – You price your business for sale depending on how much money it makes. It you are making no money it is price on the value of assets. If it is making a little bit of money it is sellers discretionary earnings. If it is making a lot of money it is a multiple of EBIDTA.

How long does it take for a company to sell? – Generally the larger the deal, the longer the timeframe it takes to sell a business. At Business Exits we average about 7 months to close a deal.

How can you sell your business quickly?  – You can sell your business quickly by having it priced correctly. Everything can be sold for the right price and terms. One of the best ways to sell your business quickly is to offer it to someone with no up-front payment and an earnout based on performance. This can be to your business partner, employees, competitors or someone in your network.

What type of business is the best to sell? – Businesses in all industries can be sold. However the differences is in the valuation across industries. Some of the most attractive industries receive much better valuations currently are service companies, Logistics and Transportation, Property Management, Home services, and Technology companies.

Who is the best broker to sell my business? – Depends on the size of the deal. Small deals (under $1,000,000 in revenue) best use a service like bizbuysell.com. for larger companies try businessexits.com they specilize in selling companies with $1,000,000 to $25,000,000 in yearly revenue.

We Analyzed 14,117 Business Sales: Here’s What We Found

 

sell your business sales data

We purchase the last 5 years sales data and analysed over 14,117 transactions between $50,000 and $100million. As you can see from the graph above we found some interesting things:

  • Average multiple of profit sold for 2.59 times profit
  • Average sales price was $595,000
  • 90% of deals were valued below $5million sales price

You will see the term ‘multiple’ used a lot. A multiple can be applied to a number of financial metrics in a business (such as EBITDA, net earnings, gross revenue etc.) to determine how much the business will be worth at sale. We calculate the multiple for the business in question based on profit, using SDE — seller’s discretionary earnings for business.

Here’s how we calculate what the business is worth:

Total Sales – Cost of Goods Sold – Expenses + Owners Wage = TSDE (your profit)

So, when we say that a business was sold for a multiple of 2.44X, for example, it means that the amount paid for the business is a value of 2.44 times the profit.

For example, a business that is doing $300,000 in profit per year sold for at 2.44X would have a sale price of $732,000 ($300,000*2.44=$732,000). This works in reverse as well — if a business sold for $732,000 at 2.44X, then ($732,000/2.44) means the profit was $300,000.

Here are the types of businesses we’re going to analyze in this article.

What to prepare for selling your business

General information consists of the regular information and is usually the first thing potential buyers will be looking at if they are interested in your business and considering the asking price. Here is a short list of some of the things you will be expected to have ready:

  • -Fact summary sheet, gives the most important information about the site all on one page
  • -Programs that the site uses and how to work those specific programs
  • -Security reports
  • -Index of every single page
  • -Media mentions, such as awards or publicity
  • -List of employees

Marketing information is going to be a big part of the buyer’s decision.

– Overall marketing strategies used – Statistics within search engine rankings – Keyword research completed and keywords that have already been targeted – Visitor statistics, that includes their demographic information – Competitor information and research – Sales history and information regarding your conversion rates

The last section of information on how to sell my business you’re going to need is going to be legal documentation. They will be able to provide proof of ownership, transfers, history, and all other legal information your buyer might be interested in. Some of those documents are:

– Revenue documentation – cashflow analysis – Customer base analysis – Intellectual Property – Expense reports – profit reports – ROI analysis – Any appraisals – Any contact regarding the sale for prospective buyers

– Analysis of real estate

 3 Best Brokers To Sell Your Business 

Selling on your own as a business owner is best if you are selling your business to a family member or employee. Selling with a business broker is best if you want to attract multiple buyers and maximize the selling price.

Here are some suggestions for best business brokers to sell your business.

  1. bizbuysell.com – Best for small business owners under $300,000 in yearly profit
  2. businessexits.com – Best for businesses $300,000 to $10 million in yearly profit
  3. hl.com – Best for businesses over $10 million in yearly profit

How long will it take to sell my business?

The average selling process takes to sell a business is 6 months. Simpler deals take shorter timeframes, more complex deals take longer timeframes. A business valuation should take a few days, in that process you may decide on an exit strategy to get your business prepared for sale. Interested buyers will then inquire from the business brokers marketing packet. Prospective business buyers will review tax returns, financial statements  . Once they are ready to make an offer they will submit a letter of internet, that may include a down payment, Then you will negotiate the purchase agreement with your lawyers, in that is usually a non-compete. The transition to a new owner generally takes 3-6 months after the deal closes and the management team transitions.

sell my business

How to Sell Your eCommerce Business (in 2019)

By

You have been building an ecommerce business that you’ve put a lot of time, effort, and sweat equity into growing, and now you’re looking to sell. Your objective is to get maximum value and you’re assessing steps to prepare for the sale. There are a multitude of variables to consider and in this post, we’ll cover them all to maximize the price you receive when exiting. Keep in mind: the insights in this article are not inclusive of Amazon FBA business sales, this is only for standalone ecommerce websites. If you want to learn more about selling an Amazon FBA business, our insights article is here.

Let’s get right into it.

We Analyzed 315 Ecommerce Sales in 2018: Here’s What We Found

 

 

Some interesting things we found:

  • The average multiple for standalone ecommerce sites was 3x
  • Almost half of the 2018 ecommerce sales were priced under $500k (162 out of the 315 deals were under a price of $500k)
  • Larger businesses still commanded the highest multiple (see multiples graph further down)
  • Ecommerce continues to be the dominant category in the market, with a whopping 76% of all business sales being standalone ecommerce websites for 2018.

What Are The Market Trends?

2017 was a breakout year for ecommerce and 2018 continued on the trajectory. The category almost doubled from 2017 to 2018 in terms of total dollars sold: $279M to $525M. You can also see the continued growth in the average multiple for ecommerce businesses over the past 5 years in this table:

What Has the Average Sales Multiple Been Per Year?

Ecommerce businesses can sell for as little as a few thousand dollars, to hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. This graph shows the data we analyzed – typically businesses in the $100 thousand to $10 million valuation range. As we can see, the average has been sitting around 2.2-2.3x earnings for the previous two years, and then jumped to 2.88x in 2017 and to 3.00x in 2018.

Average multiple over the last 10 years.

What Size Store is Worth More?

In general, the larger the ecommerce business, the more that it is worth. Here is how you understand this graph below. Let’s say that a business sold for $300,000. On average that would mean that its annual profit was around $111,000 ($300,000 divided by 2.7, because the average multiple for that size is around 2.7x). Another example would be a business that sold for $600,000. On average that would mean that its annual profit was $153,000 ($500,000 divided by 3.26). Similarly, a business that sold for $4 million would mean that its annual profit was around $1 million ($4 million divided by 3.91).

Where Were the Sales Distributed?

 

This graph represents the distribution of the sales multiples.

What is the selling process?

The selling process is fairly straight forward but can be more complex and take more time depending on the size of the business. In general, most sales will be structured like this:

  1. You decide to sell
  2. You get a valuation of your business
  3. You develop a prospectus (all the facts and figures about your business)
  4. Find potential buyers for your business
  5. Negotiate a price with potential buyers (total price and also terms of the deal)
  6. Due Diligence – buyer verify’s all the financials of the business
  7. Transfer of the assets & money
  8. Help train the new buyer to run your business

 

What is the value of your inventory?

How do you value my inventory?

Inventory is required to run your business. It is customary to include a normal inventory level in the purchase price of a business that can sustain current revenues being generated by the business. Therefore everything over that amount is to be purchased by the buyer in addition to the business valuation. The following will generally happen when considering inventory:

1) Prior to closing the sale, an inventory count is taken and the sale price is adjusted, up or down, from the amount included in the sale price.

2) Inventory is valued at cost. If the inventory is significantly higher than the normal level, will a price over that level will be negotiated?

3) A decision needs to be made whether the cost of the inventory is to be determined by using the original invoice, a percent of retail price, or a professional inventory firm.

4) Not all inventory is created equal. Aged, broken or obsolete inventory will be determined if it is sell-able and the price negotiated appropriately. This mainly comes as discounting a portion of the inventory but can also be the seller financing a portion and the buyer paying for it only when it sells.

 

How do I increase the value of my business before selling?

If you can achieve the following you will be able to increase the value of your business.

  • Predictable key drivers of new sales
  • Stable or growing traffic from diversified sources
  • Established suppliers of inventory with backup suppliers in place
  • Traffic stats (Google Analytics or other) with a long history
  • High percentage of repeat sales
  • High percentage of repeat visitors
  • Clean legal history
  • Brand with no trademark, copyright or legal concerns
  • Documented systems and processes
  • Growth potential

Where Can You Sell Your Business? The Best Ecommerce Business Brokers

Small Business Marketplaces – (under $100k)

Smaller business and micro-businesses are usually best sold privately by the owner through forums or classified websites.

To sell your small business, check out:

Broker – ($100k – $20m)

Medium sized businesses in the $100k-$20m are best sold through brokers who help with finding buyers, negotiating and structuring the deal. To sell your medium sized business, check out:

Investment Banks – ($20m +)

Larger businesses are best sold through investment banks or merger and acquisition companies. To sell your large business, check out:

  • Business Exits – great if your business is making over $4m dollar profit per year.

How much will it cost to sell my business?

Generally a business broker will charge 10-12% of the sales price of an eCommerce business including inventory.

How long will it take to sell my business?

6

QuestCo PEO Review

By

Whether you’re looking to grow your business and need to be able to better organize things from an HR perspective, or simply wish to remove the burden of payroll and some additional related tasks, a PEO (professional employer organization) might be just what you need. You outsource such work to the company, and their experts handle it with more efficiency and expertise than you could provide on your own.

Yet there are many PEO different companies operating in this market, which can make choosing a service provider difficult. In this article we look at QuestCo, a widespread and rising PEO in the market, to help you determine if they are the right pick for you.

General Overview

Based around Houston, Texas and founded in 1989, QuestCo has always sought to be at the forefront of the PEO market, providing affordable payroll and HR solutions to its clients whenever possible. Utilizing modern ideas, practices, and technology, QuestCo has made themselves more competitive recently, despite being a somewhat smaller company in the PEO space (but still large enough to handle most company’s needs).

A more affordable and adaptable PEO than many of its competitors, we find that’s it’s usually best for small to medium-sized businesses looking for a simpler solution.

Features

  • All of the normal payroll and tax support functions you primarily expect from a PEO company.
  • Safety programs available for your employees that will be effective for most offices and industries. In some cases, worksite inspections will even be available to help maintain the maximum standards of safety and security.
  • Email and live chat support options, which help to increase accessibility.
  • The ability to cancel your plan without penalty, although they do ask for a commitment and some notice before your services are canceled.
  • You will remain strictly in control of your workplace and still make all relevant decisions.
  • Benefits plans available including those available for health, prescriptions, dental, and vision coverage. Health care accounts are also available.
  • Also available are life and personal accident insurance plans, as well as short and long-term disability insurance options.
  • 401(k) retirement plans available for your employees to utilize.
  • A commitment to lowering your workers compensation costs as much as possible. This is combined with risk management strategies and solutions to keep things affordable for your business.
  • Guidance and support for you regarding potentially tenuous HR and management situations should they arise.
  • Assistance in creating an HR handbook, should you desire it.
  • Help with the recruitment process, including handling job postings, some forms of screening and testing if your industry requires or would be benefited by them, and new employee documentation and setup.
  • The heavy use of a software cloud and related technologies to keep your information available and safe.

Main Takeaways

Pros

Access to All of the Basics: Generally, we found that QuestCo was missing none of the basic services and HR functions a smaller business should look for in a PEO company. If you’re looking for a comprehensive package that can handle anything you might need, QuestCo can help you.

No Bundling of Services: QuestCo generally does not bundle together its services and plans. This means your business will only need to select and pay for the services it plans on using.

A Clear Understanding of How to Use Software: While nearly every notable PEO in business today will have software or an online platform, we found that most of them don’t match up to what QuestCo offers its clients. They stay modern, think ahead, and remain accessible no matter the platform you need to work on.

Cons

A Relative Lack of Accreditation and Certifications: Most of the other PEOs we’ve reviewed had a few certifications ensuring that they were complying with the best practices in the industry. And while QuestCo does ensure they are above board in their dealings, those looking for a bit more confirmation might find it hard to come by. They are, however, a Certified Professional Employer Organization as per the IRS.

Not Too Much Information Regarding Their Customer Service: While we are unwilling to say that their customer service is lacking in any way, there aren’t too many reports about it in either direction.

They Do Not Operate in Every State: It should be noted that QuestCo does not operate across the country, do you will need to check to see if your business still qualifies. This combined with their ten-employee minimum makes them not the most accessible option for small businesses on the market.

What Businesses Is QuestCo Best For?

Smaller to medium-sized businesses: If you are working with a very large team or even an enterprise with hundreds to thousands of employees, we find that there are likely better options available that would not only be able to provide you with a better deal but also provide you with more options and services (which your business will likely need). However, a smaller business can feel right at home with QuestCo.

Businesses that know what services they want: Due to their flexibility regarding your service package, if you know exactly what you want and need for your business, you can make the most of QuestCo and likely save money in the long term.

Businesses with more than ten employees: QuestCo does generally have a ten employee minimum to work with them, which means smaller businesses might be excluded. If you have less than ten employees, you’ll want to find a different company.

Conclusion

With some of its limitations, we understand that QuestCo might not be the choice for every company, and it shouldn’t be. But for businesses that meet some of the criteria listed above and who could use most of the features they offer, QuestCo offers a great entryway into utilizing a PEO for your business. Yet whether you choose to work with them or instead decide on another company to handle your HR needs, we hope that you can come to the best conclusion soon and that you are satisfied with your final choice.

How To Sell Your Software/SAAS Business in 2019

By

In our 2018 Business Valuation Report, we analyzed the sales of 448 companies for the year 2018 from 7 different categories of business. We found that out of all the different types of businesses sold in 2018, software companies are currently the most profitable type of business to sell in terms of multiples.

Here’s a quick summary of which types of business models are worth the most in today’s current market.

According to our data, software companies sold for an average of 3.34x multiple in 2018 – with the most profitable company selling at a 5.25x multiple.

With a valuation like that – getting a great ROI is a no-brainer – and with this information, it’s easy to see that investing in the software niche is smart business.

If you’re interested in selling your software company, the real question is – how can you get the best possible rate for your high-value business? And for investors – how can you make sure you’re acquiring a guaranteed winner when you find a great deal?

At Digital Exits, our valuation and vetting processes are second to none. Thanks to our exceptional appraisal resources, buyers know we ONLY offer the highest-quality companies, and sellers know they’re listing at the best possible price for the current market.

We’ve leveraged those resources to help high-value investors get the information they need to gain an unfair advantage over the competition in the software niche. Here’s what we found:

We analyzed the sale of 120 software companies over the past 4 years to help high-value investors get a competitive edge when buying or selling software businesses in 2019

The average multiple of a software business sale is on a steady upward trend year-over-year:

Average multiple over the last 10 years.

Now here’s the money stat (pun intended)…

2017 saw a huge jump in the total dollar amount of software businesses sold, from $26M in 2016 to $41M in 2017. The year 2018 continued on that trend with over $56M trading hands in the software category for our reported data:

Again this is because the market has validated through the multiples that software businesses are A) more valuable compared to other categories, as well as because of B) the increase in the number of software transactions each year.

Average Sales Multiples Per Year

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “multiple” – this metric refers to how much a business is worth. This is also known as the company’s valuation.

The value of a business is calculated by multiplying the amount of profit a business makes, by the valuation multiple:

$$ Profit amount x Multiple = Appraised value of the business.

So if a Software company generates $350,000 in profit, and is estimated to sell at 2.5x multiple, then the business is predicted to sell for approximately $875,000

$350,000 x 2.5  = $875,000

Here is a quick summary of how much software companies were worth in terms of multiples over the past 5 years:

  • Average 2.37x multiple in 2014
  • Average 2.77x multiple in 2015
  • Average 2.90x multiple in 2016
  • Average 3.16x multiple in 2017
  • Average 3.34x multiple in 2018

This gives us an average of 3.04x multiple over the past 4 years.

It’s important to recognize that net profit isn’t the only factor in determining value. In fact, valuation is greatly impacted by the size of the business as well. Let’s look closer at whether small or large sized businesses are worth more in this market.

Are Smaller or Larger Software Businesses Worth More?

Let’s look at our multiple per sales price. This indicates how the size of a business impacts its valuation multiple. We can use this metric to determine whether large software companies or smaller software companies are worth more overall, by analyzing what kind of multiples they are commanding based on their profit size.

Here’s how business size impacted the valuation multiple over the past few years:

  • In 2015, software businesses that generated $20k – $110k in net profit would fetch on average a 2.53x multiple. The businesses that did $115k – $600k in net profit would fetch 3.63x on average. Those were the two largest groupings for 2015 and they demonstrate the difference in multiple based on the profit size.
  • 2016 brought a similar trend but with a more drastic contrast. The smaller profit businesses (again the $20k – $110k range) only averaged 1.92x. The medium-sized profit businesses (up to $600k) would sell for an average of 3.37x.
  • In 2017, the data corroborated the same finding but with higher multiples all around: 2.28x multiple for smaller profit businesses, 3.88x for medium profit businesses.
  • Last year in 2018, you can also see the higher multiples for the bigger-sized businesses:
    Price Bucket Avg Multiple for Software
    0-$250k 2.53
    $250-500k 1.42
    $500k-$1 Million 3.23
    $1-2 Million 3.07
    $2-7 Million 3.92
    Over $7 Million 4.45

 

So, if we look at a quick summary of the past 4 years in software business sales…

  • These companies were valued at an average of 3.04x multiple
  • They sold for an average of over $1M
  • Software companies generated more than $148 million in transaction value combined

Now that you know the numbers, how does your Software business stack up against the current market?

Here’s How to Sell Your Software Business in 2017

The process of selling your Software business will vary depending on the size of your company, but generally follows this straightforward procedure:

  • Get a valuation of your business so you know what it’s worth
  • Put together the prospectus (facts, figures and numbers about your business)
  • List your business on a high-quality investment platform like Digital Exits
  • Negotiate a price with potential buyers (or have an agent handle this for you)
  • Conduct due diligence to verify the buyer’s financials
  • Transfer all assets and money
  • Help transition the new buyer into running your business

If you want to find out how much your business is worth right now, our dedicated team at Digital Exits can help.

With decades of experience in high-value business investments under our belts, our appraisal and vetting resources are unmatched in today’s market.

 

 

Where Can You Sell Your SoftwareBusiness?

 

Small Business Marketplaces

Smaller software business and micro-businesses are usually best sold privately by the owner through forums or classified websites.

To sell your small business, check out:

Broker

Medium sized software businesses in the $100k-$1m are best sold through brokers. To sell your medium sized business, check out:

  • -Digital Exits – best for software businesses $100 – $1m in yearly profit

Investment Banks

Larger software businesses with yearly profit larger than $1m are best sold through investment banks. To sell your large business, check out:

  • –Business Exits – best for software businesses making over $1m in yearly profit

What Is Your Online Business Worth?

By

The first question a seller asks us as a website broker when looking to sell their online business is: “What is it worth?”

By Jock Purtle and Robert Kale

In 2008, we started analyzing all online business transactions that we could find for the previous year, and presented it in a report to help online business owners, like you, sell your website. Each year, we analyze the previous year’s sales to come up with industry averages. Fast forward to today, and this article represents a sales data analysis of the 10 years from 2008 to 2018.

You will see the term “multiple” a lot in this article. That is referring to a multiple of the business’s profit. We use that multiple to determine the valuation, or list price for the business. We calculate the profit for the business using SDE (Seller’s Discretionary Earnings) using this formula:


SDE = Net Profit + Owner Wages/Benefits,
Or, in other words:
SDE = Total Sales – Cost of Goods Sold – Expenses + Owners Wages/Benefits

What is also discussed and needs explaining is when we say, for example, a “multiple of 2.44x.” What this means is: the amount paid for the business is a value of 2.44 times the profit (SDE).

EXAMPLE: A business that is doing $300,000 in profit per year that sold for 2.44x means the selling price was: $300,000 * 2.44 = $732,000. This works in reverse as well. If a business sold for $723,000 at 2.44x, then (2.44 = $732,000 / 2.4x means the profit was $300,000). Note that the SDE is typically calculated for the trailing twelve months (TTM) of the business.

What are the market trends?

Total Deal Volume (Selling Price) by Year:

We Analyzed 1,666 Businesses With 6 Different Business Models

For this report, we analyzed 1,666 businesses that sold from 2008 to 2018.

What we’re seeing from the data is a steady increase year-over-year in the average multiple of an internet business sale, and this trend continued through 2018.

In 2017 we saw an explosion in ecommerce sales and it did not slow down in 2018. The total ecommerce transactions went from 254 sales in 2017, to 346.

This graph breaks down the percentage of the total deals each business category represented.

Below is how we categorized each business model:

    • Advertising – a website monetized through ads or affiliate offers
    • Ecommerce – traditional e-commerce stores, drop-shipping and digital products
    • Ecommerce FBA – a storefront on Amazon, including businesses that hold inventory through Amazon FBA or ship inventory themselves or through other means.
    • Lead Generation – websites monetized through selling leads
    • Service – websites monetized through providing a service
    • Software – SAAS (software as a service) and any other software application based business

Where Can You Sell Your Online Business?

Small Websites (Under $100K) – Sell yourself

Smaller business and micro-businesses are usually best sold privately by the owner through forums or classified websites.To sell your small business, check out Flippa

Medium Websites (Under $50m) – Sell with a broker

Medium sized businesses making between $250,000 and $20m in profit are best sold through brokers who help with finding buyers, negotiating and structuring the deal, we recommend Digital Exits

Large Websites (Over $50m) – Sell with an investment bank

Larger businesses making over $20m in yearly profit are best sold through investment banks or merger and acquisition companies. To sell your large business, check out BusinessExits

What We Found From Our Analysis

This graph represents a snapshot of the total data. It will give you a better understanding of where your business sits in comparison to all the businesses analyzed. The average multiple for all businesses sold in those 10 years is 2.5x. The sum of transactions between 2008 and 2018 is $1.56 billion. We believe this represents only 10-15% of the overall market of traded web businesses. The rest are either partner buyouts, employee buyouts or private transactions.

What Is The Average Multiple Per Business Model?

Now that we have 10 years of data, we can see how the average multiple has changed annually.

Here are my thoughts on why there is a differentiation in average multiple between each business model:

Advertising – Demands a low multiple because you also don’t control the customer. Essentially, advertising websites drive people to their website with the goal to send them away to another source.

Ecommerce – A consistent performer with a large volume of businesses selling, and growing fast. It is, in my opinion, the easiest business to understand and train a new buyer on. With the ease of platforms like Shopify, they also often require fewer hours per week to maintain, and the owner can focus on marketing and growth.

Ecommerce FBA – The fastest growing segment. Amazon-based businesses, however, overall demand a lower multiple than standalone ecommerce websites. This is mainly because the business owner does not “own” the customers – Amazon does. Also, there is always an inherent threat of Amazon competing with the business, adding more risk for the buyer. That being said, the average multiple for Amazon businesses compared to other standalone ecommerce businesses was almost identical for 2018.

Lead Generation – Leadgen had a surprisingly high multiple for 2017 and it got tempered a bit from the data in 2018, with an average multiple of 2.97x. As more competition comes online it has been harder to generate leads for businesses and thus the higher demand for leads.

Service – Again, a consistent performer and also easy to understand business. The main value in a service based business is the book of clients which can be transferred easily, and if they stay on as clients it can lead to a decent return for a buyer. This category saw a steady increase in the average multiple from 2017 to 2018: 2.57x to 2.62x.

Software – Still a very highly demanded business model and was the biggest winner in terms of multiples in 2018 (again). We saw another average multiple increase here year over year, from 3.16x average multiple in 2017 to a 3.34x average multiple in 2018.

Are Smaller Or Larger Businesses Worth More?

We can see from the last 10+ years the consistent trends of multiples at each price point. The larger your business, the higher multiple you can demand. For example, in 2018 the average multiple for a business that sold between the price of 0 – $250k was 2.06x. However, if your business was worth over $7M valuation, the average multiple was 5.87x. This is why if there is capacity in both the operator and the business for more growth, and the operator can be patient, we recommend growing the business to a higher level before seeking a buyer.

 

How to interpret this graph: If your business is generating:

  • 0-$125k per year in annual profit = valuation range of 0-$250,000
  • $125k-$200k annual profit = valuation range of $250,000-$500,000
  • $200k-$$380k annual profit = valuation range of $500,000-$1,000,000
  • $380k-$650k annual profit = valuation range of $1,000,000-$2,000,000
  • $650k-$2m annual profit = valuation range of $2,000,000-$7,000,000
  • $2m-$10m annual profit = valuation range of $7,000,000-$100,000,000

This will give you a pretty accurate range of where you business sits in the valuation spectrum.

How many transactions occurred at each price point?

This graph represents the total number of transactions that occurred in each price range. For example, in 2018, there were 113 transactions in the $0 – $250k range. Similarly, there were 103 transactions in the $250k – $500k range.

This data represents the volume of transactions at each price point. Obviously, there will be more transactions of “smaller” businesses in the $0 – $500k range, and less supply of businesses at a higher valuation range. Whats interesting to note is the growth in larger businesses being sold ($1m – $20m selling price). 

What do the multiples look like on a scatter graph?

To get a true appreciation of averages you need to look at the dataset as a whole. This scatter graph represents each transaction and what multiple it sold at of profit.

scatter_Graph

What you notice is the majority of transactions falling in the 1.52X to 2.24X valuation range. This data backs up the premise that most small businesses sell for 2-3 times earnings.

 

How To Sell Your Amazon FBA Business & What Is It Worth?

By

The Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) business model is fast becoming a serious model in the online business space. Some sites see it as the top way to make money online in 2019. For example, companies like Amazing.com have developed a whole new breed of entrepreneur and we are starting to get lots of requests from Amazon business owners for a valuation on their business. Selling your FBA business is an attractive investment for someone without the skills and the knowledge to start a business, but wants to buy one that is easy to manage. That is why we have analyzed the 2018 data on Amazon FBA businesses that have sold, to come up with this Amazon FBA business valuation report.

 

We anticipate this trend to continue into 2019 and beyond as it is only a growing market right now.

What is your Amazon FBA business worth?

The value of your Amazon business is in it’s ability to produce profit. So for example if your business made $1m in sales in 2015 and your profit (SDE or sellers discretionary cash flow) was $250,000 then your business would be a multiple of that $250,000 in profit. We are seeing the market pay 1.5-3X profit for Amazon FBA businesses so the business would be valued between $250,000 and $500,000.

The profit of your business is calculated as = Total Sale – Cost of Goods Sold – Expenses + Owners Wage

Where your business sites in the range of 1.5-3 times profit depends on a range of factors including age of the business, niche, how many SKU’s, growth, competitive landscape of the business.

We have put together some data for transactions in 2018 for Amazon FBA businesses:

 

 

Amazon FBA businesses accounted for over $100M in business sales for 2018, similar to 2017. This continues to be a huge category in the market and a great opportunity for both buyers to cash out, and sellers to grow through acquisition.

***This table shows the average multiple in each price range. For example, for businesses worth between $250,000 and $500,000, the average multiple was 3.03x of the SDE.

 

 

How to increase the value of your Amazon business?

The amount a buyer is willing to pay for your ecommerce business will all come down to one thing, return-on-investment (ROI) and relative risk. The lower the risk, the higher the price and vice-versa. With that being said, what really makes your Amazon FBA business worth more is mitigating the risk of the business failing in the future by having the following characteristics associated with your online store:

  • Age – the older your business the more value it has to a buyer as they can see the track record and growth trends. A business that is 1 year old versus 3 years old is harder to project future earnings which is what a buyer is looking for.
  • Niche – a hyper competitive niche like Iphone cases is a much harder market to compete against competitors with than table mats for marble tables. The point is the market matters and your positioning in that market will affect valuation.
  • Concentration of products – having one product that makes up 80% of your sales is a big risk to a buyer, by having a diversified portfolio you can demand a higher price.
  • Brand – Having your own branded and manufactured product creates a certain level of competitive advantage against copycats who are just reselling of Alibaba.
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank – If your BSR rank has growth consistently over time then that is a good sign to a buyer that you provide a good product and have great customer service.
  • Suppliers – having quality suppliers that are dependable, deliver product in a timely fashion, have good terms and reliable fulfilment or orders.

How does the selling process work?

The selling process if fairly straight forward but can be more complex and take more time depending on the size of the business. In general, most sales will be structured like this:

  1. You decide to sell
  2. You get a valuation of your business
  3. You develop a prospectus (all the facts and figures about your business)
  4. Find potential buyers for your business (whether you use a broker or sell it yourself)
  5. Negotiate a price with potential buyers (total price and also terms of the deal)
  6. Transfer the assets & money
  7. Help train the new buyer to run your business

Where Can You Sell Your Amazon Business? Best Amazon Business Brokers

 

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETPLACES – (UNDER $100K)

Smaller amazon business and micro-businesses are usually best sold privately by the owner through forums or classified websites. That is amazon businesses making less than $500,000 in sales per year.

To sell your small business, check out:

BROKER – ($100K – $20M)

Medium sized amazon businesses in the $100k-$20m are best sold through amazon business brokers who help with finding buyers, negotiating and structuring the deal. That is amazon businesses doing at least $500,000 per year in sales.  To sell your medium sized business, check out:

INVESTMENT BANKS – ($20M +)

Larger businesses are best sold through investment banks or merger and acquisition companies. To sell your large business, check out:

  • Business Exits – great if your business is making over $4m dollar profit per year.

What does it cost to sell my Amazon FBA business?

A website broker will generally charge 10-15% of the gross sale price to sell your Amazon business depending on the size of the business.

How long does it take to sell my Amazon FBA business?

The time it takes to sell an Amazon FBA business depends on individual business and terms of the deal. Generally though, larger deals (over $1 million) will take longer to sell than smaller deals (under $200k) because of the complexity of the business and also the risk that a buyer is taking.

The graph below represents the summary of all the deals that we have completed and the time it took to complete them on average. As you can see, over 50% of deals close within 90 days and over 70% close within four months.

Who will buy my Amazon FBA business?

There are really 3 main types of buyers of Amazon FBA business that we have seen to date and they are the following:

  • Corporate Person – This is someone looking to buy his or her first business. They usually are a high paid employee or C-level executive with disposable cash, IRA, savings or access to an SBA loan.
  • Internet Entrepreneur – Individuals who have been in the industry for a while and have a good understanding as to what it takes to run a digital business. They are either fresh off the sale of their last business or looking to add a business to their portfolio.
  • Brick and Mortar Entrepreneur – Generally brick and mortar entrepreneurs who have exited or still own their company and are looking for a move into the digital space