Find out roughly what your business is worth in under a minute. Pick your industry, enter your yearly profit and you'll see an indicative value range, the industry multiple used and your payback period straight away. It's free, there's no signup, and we built it for Australian small businesses.
Net profit before tax, plus one working owner's wage and super, plus one-off or personal costs run through the business.
Example result
Indicative value: $225,000 to $450,000
Best estimate: $338,000 (2.25x)
2.3 years to earn back the price from owner's earnings
Industry range used: 1.5x to 3.0x owner's earnings (Not sure / other industry). Indicative. How we set this
Indicative value $225,000 to $450,000. Best estimate $338,000. Payback 2.3 years.
Free for 30 days. Valid ABN needed, one free listing per ABN. No commission when you sell.
Browse similar businesses for sale Want a free appraisal from our team?Indicative only, not a formal valuation. This calculator gives a general estimate based on published industry ranges and the numbers you enter. It isn't financial, tax or legal advice. Every business is different, so speak to your accountant or a qualified business valuer before you set a price or make a decision.
Optional. Not sure leaves the estimate in the middle of the range.
This calculator gives an indicative sale range for an owner-operated Australian small business. It starts with owner's earnings: net profit before tax, plus one working owner's wage and super, plus interest, depreciation and one-off or personal costs. Buyers often call this seller's discretionary earnings. We multiply that figure by an indicative range for your industry. The low and high ends are the value range, and they stay the full industry range so the headline matches the table below. Six optional questions place a best estimate inside the range. They cover running without you, recurring revenue, customer concentration, the profit trend, accountant-prepared financials and the lease. Yes moves the estimate up. No moves it down. Not sure leaves it in place. It cannot leave the industry range. Stock at cost is added afterwards and is not multiplied. Enter an asking price to see the multiple that price implies, and the payback at that price.
Indicative ranges on owner's earnings. Not a survey and not a formal valuation.
| Industry | Indicative multiple | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cafe and coffee shop | 1.5x to 2.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Restaurant and takeaway | 1.5x to 2.75x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Other food and drink (bakery, butcher, juice bar, catering) | 1.5x to 2.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Retail shop (general, clothing, home and garden, outdoor, tech) | 1.25x to 2.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Hair, beauty and personal care | 1.5x to 2.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Medical, dental and allied health practice | 2.5x to 5.0x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Childcare centre | 2.5x to 4.25x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Education and tutoring | 2.0x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Trades and home services (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, pest control) | 2.0x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Construction and building | 2.0x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Cleaning (commercial and residential) | 1.5x to 2.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Professional and business services (accounting, legal, consulting, marketing) | 1.5x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| IT services and software | 2.5x to 5.0x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Online business and ecommerce | 2.0x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Transport, courier and logistics | 2.0x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Manufacturing | 2.0x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Import, export and wholesale | 2.0x to 3.5x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Accommodation and tourism (business only, no freehold) Freehold property, management rights and hotels are valued differently. This range covers the business only. | 2.0x to 3.0x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Franchise resale Franchisor approval and remaining term affect value. | 1.5x to 3.0x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Not sure / other industry | 1.5x to 3.0x | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Automotive | 1.5x to 3.0x (general range) | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Pets | 1.5x to 3.0x (general range) | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Boat and marine | 1.5x to 3.0x (general range) | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Entertainment, leisure and recreation | 1.5x to 3.0x (general range) | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Advertising and promotions | 1.5x to 3.0x (general range) | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
| Agricultural and farming Farms are usually valued on land and assets. | 1.5x to 3.0x (general range) | Owner's earnings | Indicative |
How we set these ranges. These are indicative ranges for owner-operated Australian businesses, measured against owner's earnings (profit plus one working owner's wage and add-backs). There is no public database of Australian small business sale multiples, so we combined published Australian broker and valuer guidance with Business For Sale's own industry guides, and checked them against five years of small business sale data. Larger businesses, freehold property, management rights and farms are valued differently. Ranges were reviewed in October 2026 and are updated yearly.
The payback period is the price divided by the yearly owner's earnings. It tells a buyer how many years of those earnings it would take to earn back the price. For many owner-operated Australian businesses it lands somewhere around 1.5 to 3.5 years. A shorter payback is better for the buyer. A longer one can still be fair when revenue is steady, the lease is secure and the business does not rely on one person. If you would need to pay a manager to do your job, the real payback is longer, because that wage comes out of the earnings. Enter a manager cost in the calculator to see it.
Worked example. A cafe with $120,000 of owner's earnings and a best estimate of $240,000 has a payback of 2.0 years. At an asking price of $350,000 the payback is 2.9 years. If a manager costs $70,000 a year, the payback at that asking price is 7.0 years.
Most Australian owner-operated small businesses sell for roughly 1.5 to 3 times their yearly owner's earnings (profit plus one working owner's wage and add-backs). Where yours sits depends on your industry, how much the business relies on you, how steady and recurring the revenue is, your lease and the quality of your financials. Use the calculator above for an indicative range, then speak to your accountant or a valuer for a formal figure.
As an indicative guide on owner's earnings: cafes and hair salons often sit around 1.5x to 2.5x, retail around 1.25x to 2.5x, trades and home services around 2x to 3.5x, and childcare and health practices higher, around 2.5x to 4x or more. See the full table on this page. These ranges come from published Australian broker and valuer guidance and are not a formal valuation.
Owner's earnings (often called seller's discretionary earnings, or SDE) are your net profit before tax, plus the wage and super you pay one working owner, plus interest, depreciation and any one-off or personal costs run through the business. It shows a buyer what the business would earn them if they ran it themselves. Use the 'Help me work it out' option in the calculator.
The payback period is the price divided by the yearly owner's earnings. It tells a buyer how many years it would take to earn back what they paid. For many owner-operated Australian businesses it lands somewhere around 1.5 to 3.5 years, depending on the industry and the risk. A shorter payback is better for the buyer. If you'd need to pay a manager, the real payback is longer.
No. The calculator gives an indicative estimate only, based on published industry ranges and the numbers you enter. It isn't financial, tax or legal advice. For a sale, a tax event or a dispute, speak to your accountant or a qualified business valuer.
Est. $225k to $450k
List it free