Q1 2009 Costs to Buy a Business
How Much Is My New York Business Worth?
We just received the latest New York, New York business valuation data for First Quarter 2009.
Q1 2009 Business Valuations in New York, NY
According to statistics issued by BizBuySell.com, New York business-for-sale listings in Q1 2009 had a median asking price of $250,000.
That compares to a median ask price of $250,000 in Q1 2008. In spite of the difficult economy, New York, NY business valuations appear to be relatively stable.
Please understand that this is the median asking price for a business. If you want to buy a business, you may be able to buy a New York company for much less. However, some New York businesses may be selling for much more.
Another thing to remember is that this is the asking price for a New York business. When a business owner lists a company for sale, they typically set a price that ends up being more than the ultimate sale price. A sale-to-ask ratio typically might be between 0.85 and 0.90, but of course it varies considerably. That means a company listed for $200,000 might be sold for between $170,000 and $180,000.
Number of New York Businesses for Sale in the Dataset
The study data comprised 4939 listings in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metro area. As such, some of the businesses used to derive the median valuation might be outside of New York, but they are close by and so are probably representative of New York business valuations.
One year ago, in Q1 2008, the BizBuySell.com dataset for New York spanned 5314 listings. The downward trend in the number of New York business-for-sale listings is indicative of the current down economy.
Q1 2009 Revenue Multiples In New York, NY
In the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metro area, companies will typically sell for 0.82 times the selling company's revenues. That was the mean revenue multiple for Q1 2009 in this part of the country.
In other words, a business that has revenues of $200,000 might list for $164,170. Remember, however, that this is simply an average for revenue multiples in New York and surrounding communities. Some firms will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.
According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its business-for-sale listings was $450,000 in Q1 2009.
In terms of trending year over year, the Q1 2008 revenue multiple was 0.87 and the median revenue for listed businesses was $414,635.
Q1 2009 Cash Flow Multiples In New York, NY
Cash flow multiples are another common way to value a business.
For Q1 2009, the average cash flow multiple for listed businesses in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metro area was 2.91.
So, a firm with cash flows of $150,000 might have an asking price of $437,122. That's only if the firm complies with the local average. Cash flow multiples will usually vary considerably based on many factors.
If you are interested in what cash flows are for a business in New York, BizBuySell.com reports that the median cash flow for New York area businesses was $120,000 in Q1 2009. In Q1 2008, cash flow multiples clocked in at 2.94 and the median cash flow was $113,686.
Tips for New York, NY Business Sellers
It's critical to keep the potential sale of your business as confidential as possible. If that confidentiality is compromised, you risk losing customers, employees and vendors. Loose lips sink ships...and sink business-for-sale transactions as well! This useful business selling advice comes from Domenic Rinaldi, managing partner of Sun Acquisitions, a leading business brokerage firm.
Business Valuations for New York, NY Businesses
If you are contemplating buying a business or selling a business and would like to value a specific business, we suggest you try the BizBuySell.com Business Valuation Tool. You can modify the dataset that creates business valuation estimates to meet your specific criteria. As a bonus, access to the tool is very affordable -- less than $100.
More Information on BizBuySell.com's Quarterly Reports
The BizBuySell Insight Report is a nationally-recognized economic report that tracks trends in the business-for-sale marketplace. If you find these trends interesting, take a moment to visit BizBuySell.com Insights Report for additional information.
Historical Data for New York, NY Business Valuations
If you are interested in trends in business-for-sale asking prices, here are the median asking prices for businesses in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metro area for the last 9 quarters.
Here is how median revenue multiples are trending in the New York area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
The table below shows how cash flow multiples are trending in the New York area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
Flow Multiple
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs