# Questions About Selling A Business.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-selling-a-business/238027>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 3, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-selling-a-business/238027 "2004-04-03T05:00:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-selling-a-business/238027/1 "2004-04-03T05:00:54Z")

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I’m entertainig the idea of selling the company that I started three years ago. It is a registered Corporation, and I am the only employee. The company is highly portable. Is there a set of, or given assumption of, equations that dictate what a fair price for a business is? Something along the lines of:

Past Years’ Combined Revenues minus Current Debt, multiplied or divided by some other factors.

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**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-selling-a-business/238027/2 "2004-04-03T05:04:58Z")

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Also, what is the best practice of finding a prospective buyer?

Ebay? Something in my local paper? Does this fall under an Estate Sale?

This is not a solicitation, but I will entertain offers.

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-selling-a-business/238027/3 "2004-04-03T14:52:24Z")

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There was a thread about this in GQ not to long ago: [How do I value a small business?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=239429) I’m not sure it answered the OP’s questions or the exact question you’re asking here, but it’s a start on a place to look.

Out of curiosity, can you say what type of business it is and why you’re selling?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-selling-a-business/238027/4 "2004-04-03T16:19:00Z")

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[This](http://www.bizstats.com/rulesofthumb.htm) was an excellent link submitted by jk1245 in the other thread. I even breaks it down by type of business. But, I noticed that nowhere does it talk about factoring in the debt of the business.

In my situation, it is a home business that does IT Services for residential and small business customers. Revenues have been steadily climbing since the inception of the company, but so has debt. Basically, if I were to just dissolve the company, and liquidate the assets, I would probably break even.

Of course, the only rule of thumb with how much something is worth, is how much someone else is willing to pay for it.