Q3 2009 Business Valuation Data

Sell My Clearwater, FL Business

We just received the latest Clearwater, Florida business-for-sale statistics.

Median Ask Prices for Clearwater, FL Businesses

If you are interested in trends in business-for-sale asking prices, here are the median asking prices for businesses in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area for the last 11 quarters.

Quarter
Median Ask
Q1 2007
$195,000
Q2 2007
$189,000
Q3 2007
$200,000
Q4 2007
$200,000
Q1 2008
$225,000
Q2 2008
$225,000
Q3 2008
$212,250
Q4 2008
$205,000
Q1 2009
$199,000
Q2 2009
$195,000
Q3 2009
$189,000

As you can see from the chart above, Clearwater business-for-sale listings in Q3 2009 had a median asking price of $189,000.

That compares to a median ask price of $212,250 in Q3 2008. Given that Clearwater, FL median business asking prices appear to be dropping, it suggests that selling Clearwater businesses may be lowering their prices to make their businesses more attractive to buyers.

Revenue Multiples for Clearwater, FL Businesses

Here is how median revenue multiples are trending in the Clearwater area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.

Quarter
Revenue Multiple
Q1 2007
0.87
Q2 2007
0.89
Q3 2007
0.91
Q4 2007
0.91
Q1 2008
0.98
Q2 2008
0.96
Q3 2008
0.92
Q4 2008
0.89
Q1 2009
0.94
Q2 2009
0.96
Q3 2009
0.93

In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area, small companies will usually sell for 0.93 times the selling company's revenues. As shown in the chart above, that was the mean revenue multiple for Q3 2009 in this area of the country.

In other words, a business that has revenues of $150,000 might list for $139,225. Keep in mind that this is just an average for revenue multiples in the area. Some small businesses will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.

According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its Clearwater business-for-sale listings was $317,843 in Q3 2009.

To give this some context, the Q3 2008 revenue multiple was 0.92 and the median revenue for listed Clearwater businesses was $350,000.

Cash Flow Multiples for Clearwater, FL Businesses

The table below shows how cash flow multiples are trending in the Clearwater area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.

Quarter
Median Cash
Flow Multiple
Q1 2007
2.95
Q2 2007
2.99
Q3 2007
3.31
Q4 2007
3.34
Q1 2008
3.45
Q2 2008
3.39
Q3 2008
3.28
Q4 2008
3.33
Q1 2009
3.45
Q2 2009
3.50
Q3 2009
3.40

As you probably know, cash flow multiples are another popular technique to value a business.

For Q3 2009, the average cash flow multiple for listed businesses in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area was 3.40.

So, a business with cash flows of $110,000 might list for $374,013. That's only if the firm complies with the local average. Actual cash flow multiples are based on business specifics.

In case you were wondering what typical cash flows are for a business in Clearwater, BizBuySell.com found that the median cash flow for Clearwater area businesses was $77,611 in Q3 2009. In Q3 2008, Clearwater cash flow multiples averaged 3.28 and the median cash flow was $86,025.

Number of Clearwater Businesses for Sale in the Dataset

The study data comprised 829 listings in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area. Many of the businesses in the dataset are outside of Clearwater, but they are nearby and so are probably representative of Clearwater business valuations.

One year ago, in Q3 2008, the BizBuySell.com dataset for Clearwater spanned 998 listings. The downward trend in the number of Clearwater business-for-sale listings is indicative of the current down economy.

Can I Sell My Clearwater, FL Business Now?

Selling a business now is the right decision for many business owners. That's because it's a great time to sell given the sheer number of buyers in the marketplace right now. Laid-off executives, for example, our turning to entrepreneurship and are actively exploring business-for-sale opportunities. If your business has solid fundamentals and you have a good plan, your next step should be to talk to a professional intermediary who can help you to package up the business for sale and get maximize your business sale price. This helpful tip comes from Domenic Rinaldi, managing partner of Sun Acquisitions, a leading business brokerage firm.

Business Valuations for Clearwater, FL Businesses

If you are contemplating buying a business or selling a business and would like to look at completed transaction sale price comparables in the area, we recommend the BizBuySell.com Business Valuation Tool. Based on your specific criteria, you can modify the company dataset that creates business valuation estimates. Access to the tool is very reasonable -- costing less than $100.

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 more information.

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