Throughout the course of owning a business, every owner will typically think: how much can I sell my business for? When you make the decision to sell your business, the first thing that comes to mind is how much market value it has. Business worth comes from a variety of factors, so it’s important to know what these are and how they contribute to your business’s value.
From learning what the estimated worth of your tangible assets is to figuring out how you might increase the value of your business before finally selling, the team at Advanced Business Brokers can help you through the whole process.
Determining a fair market value for your business relies on a variety of factors. Some of these include, but are not limited to:
All of these can heavily impact your business’s worth. A business that outputs much larger volumes of products or services will have higher annual sales. This inevitably has a large impact on how much the business could be worth to future buyers as they try to determine current operational worth vs. future cash flows.
Every business owner who might be interested in buying will approach the value of your business in this way, both looking at present and future profitability.
So, after looking at considerations for how much someone might value your business, how do you determine what it could potentially be worth before listing it for potential buyers?
There are a variety of valuation methods that both large and small businesses use to determine present value. Some of these valuation methods include:
Although there are different options for a reasonable valuation of your business, a team like Advanced Business Brokers can help determine which works best for you. By looking at your total assets, size of your businesses, growth trends, total liabilities, and a variety of other factors, we can walk you through the process to get a great estimate of your business’s worth.
The easiest way to determine what your business could be worth and how much you should ask for it comes by working with a team of professional business brokers. Advanced Business Brokers provides competitive advantages to selling your business through quality analysis, collaboration, and experience that you can count on. Small business owners, mid-sized businesses, and larger businesses alike can get help selling their business with ABB.
From start to finish, our team walks you through the sales process. Reach out today to learn more about your business’s present day values and how to plan for a better sale!
If you’re thinking about selling your business and don’t know where to start, consider speaking with our team here at Advanced Business Brokers. We specialize in brokering and advising exit plan strategies for various sizes/sectors of businesses.
With over 25 years of dedicated experience, Bob empowers small business owners in the Indianapolis metro area to achieve their entrepreneurial visions, whether by building scalable operations or crafting highly sellable entities. For three decades, he’s cultivated a robust network of owners, buyers, and strategic partners, a resource he fully leverages to help clients meet their unique objectives.
Bob’s expertise spans a diverse range of industries, including trade-based businesses like construction, HVAC, skilled trades, and manufacturing, as well as white-collar professional service firms such as law, finance, marketing, and technical services. Beyond his client work, Bob actively contributes to his community, serving as Treasurer for the Boone County Chamber Board and as well as a board member for both the Central Indiana Police Foundation (CIPF) and Fiscal Sponsorship Allies (FSA).
Bob holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and teaches there as well in the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, which is ranked among the Top 50 programs in the U.S.
He lives with his wife Lori in Zionsville, just outside Indianapolis, and in his free time, he enjoys working on his home, playing golf, and traveling.
With a degree in psychology and a professional background in social work, Marissa
brings a people-centered lens to every project. Her experience includes being a Project
Planning Specialist at GE Aerospace, creating efficient processes and structures that
help teams work smarter and stay aligned. Marissa joins the Main Street Market Maker
team with Advanced Business Brokers to dedicate time and attention to smaller
business opportunities and provide excellent and supportive customer service.
Outside of work, she is a mom of three young men who finds joy in the everyday chaos
of family life. She loves strong coffee, warm beaches, and any excuse to spend time in
the sunshine. Hot yoga and hammocking are some of her favorite ways to reset and
stay grounded and help her show up with more presence both at home and in my
professional life.
Steve brings more than 20 years of experience as a legal and financial professional to
his work with business owners preparing for transition and sale. He advises owners and
their families through every stage of the exit planning and transaction process, with a
focus on thoughtful assessment, risk management, and strategic value enhancement.
Steve is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) and an active member of the Exit
Planning Institute. He previously served as Director of the Small Business Development
Center in Toledo, Ohio, where he worked closely with entrepreneurs across a wide
range of industries on growth, financing, and succession planning initiatives.
Earlier in his career, Steve practiced law with a nationally recognized Chicago-based
law firm and held roles in capital markets and commercial banking with leading financial
institutions. This multidisciplinary background allows him to approach business
transactions with a practical understanding of legal, financial, and operational
considerations.
As a business broker, Steve specializes in industrial and manufacturing companies,
skilled trades, and professional service firms, including marketing, staffing, and financial
services businesses. Steve earned his Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago
School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Notre
Dame. He lives in the Toledo area with his wife and two daughters. Outside of work, he
enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time at his family’s lake house.
A lifelong resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Dr. Mark Hagar brings decades of hands-on experience in small business ownership, acquisitions, and turnarounds to his role as a business broker. Over his distinguished career, he has acquired and operated more than 20 companies and engineered over 50 successful turnarounds, giving him a uniquely practical understanding of what makes businesses succeed, and sell. His portfolio spans manufacturing, distribution, and service firms in industries including printing, education, military contracting, aerospace, and orthopedics. This diverse background enables him to identify value, anticipate buyer needs, and structure complex deals with confidence and precision.
Mark holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Cranfield University’s School of Management in Bedford, England—one of Europe’s leading business schools. His research on small business resilience and operational excellence has been recognized by the Small Business Institute (SBI), the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), and the International Council for Small Business (ICSB).
In addition to his business career, Dr. Hagar has served as a member of faculty at several institutions of higher education, including Holy Cross College (Notre Dame), Trine University, and the University of Saint Francis. He also hosted Your Business Matters, a small business–focused radio show and podcast for more than a decade and is the author of Small Fortunes – the Acquisition Entrepreneur’s Guide to Buying a Profitable Small Business.
A passionate advocate for entrepreneurs, Mark previously chaired the Indiana Leadership Council for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), representing small business owners before state and federal legislators. He currently serves as President of the Allen County, Indiana Economic Development
Commission.
As a broker, Mark specializes in industrial, manufacturing, and distribution firms, with particular expertise in special situations, distressed assets, and complex transitions where experience, creativity and discretion are central to success.