Selling your business is one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make. Whether you're eyeing retirement, chasing your next big venture, or simply ready for a change, the sale of your company requires strategic planning and emotional readiness.

At Sailfish Equity Advisors, we've guided over 1,000 business owners across Florida through successful exits. With 25+ years as trusted business brokers and M&A advisors, we understand the landscape, pitfalls, and best practices that lead to smooth, profitable deals.

If you're a business owner considering an exit, one of the first questions on your mind is probably: How much is my business worth? It's a loaded question—and not one with a one-size-fits-all answer. But whether you're planning to sell now or preparing for a future transition, understanding the value of your business is crucial.

If you're wondering how much to sell your business for, you're not alone. That’s the foundational question for any owner's exit plan—and it starts with understanding one number above all: profit. Not revenue, not future projections—but your actual earnings from the business. Profits make businesses attractive to buyers and credible to financiers.

If you're asking, “What is my business worth?”—you’re already ahead of 90% of business owners. But here’s the kicker: most never figure it out until it’s too late. In this guide, we’ll break down how to sell your business, what drives your valuation, and how Florida business owners like you can maximize your exit by working with the right business broker.

If you own a service business in Florida, understanding SDE and EBITDA isn’t optional—it’s essential. These numbers don’t just measure performance; they drive the sale price. In this article, we break down what they really mean, how they’re used in real-world deals, and how to get the highest valuation when it’s time to sell.

SDE and adjusted EBITDA measure the same company and land on two different earnings numbers — sometimes six figures apart. Where your business sits on the size ladder decides which one buyers will actually use, and mixing up the two is how owners end up chasing multiples that were never available to them. Here is the dividing line, a worked contrast, and what happens when a platform buyer re-cuts your math.

At the current average multiple, a dollar of documented SDE is worth roughly $2.70 when your business sells — which makes the year or two before going to market the highest-paid stretch of your ownership. This is the working plan: a 12–24 month documentation calendar, the expense moves that survive diligence versus the ones that get reversed, and the math on what each improvement returns.

The bottom line of your P&L is not the number your business sells on — SDE is, and calculating it correctly is a forty-five-minute exercise most owners get wrong on the first try. This field guide walks a hypothetical $1.4M Florida service company from $92,000 of net income to $299,000 of SDE, line by line, then covers the add-backs SBA lenders push back on and the three DIY errors that skew the result.

Thinking about selling your company? Discover how business value is determined, what buyers really look for, and how to position your business for maximum value. Learn from Florida’s trusted business broker, Sailfish Equity Advisors.