Q3 2009 Business Valuation Data

Sell My Long Island, NY Business

BizBuySell.com has just released its Long Island, New York business-for-sale statistics.

Median Ask Prices for Long Island, NY Businesses

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 11 quarters.

Quarter
Median Ask
Q1 2007
$268,500
Q2 2007
$250,000
Q3 2007
$250,000
Q4 2007
$250,000
Q1 2008
$250,000
Q2 2008
$257,000
Q3 2008
$250,000
Q4 2008
$250,000
Q1 2009
$250,000
Q2 2009
$250,000
Q3 2009
$250,000

As shown in the table, Long Island business-for-sale listings in Q3 2009 had a median asking price of $250,000.

That compares to a median ask price of $250,000 in Q3 2008. Long Island, NY business values are showing stability even in this tough economic environment.

Revenue Multiples for Long Island, NY Businesses

Here is how median revenue multiples are tracking in the Long Island area, based on BizBuySell.com's economic data.

Quarter
Revenue Multiple
Q1 2007
0.87
Q2 2007
0.83
Q3 2007
0.88
Q4 2007
0.87
Q1 2008
0.87
Q2 2008
0.87
Q3 2008
0.84
Q4 2008
0.83
Q1 2009
0.82
Q2 2009
0.82
Q3 2009
0.81

In the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metro area, companies will usually sell for 0.81 times the selling company's revenues. The data from BizBuySell.com indicates that is the mean revenue multiple for Q3 2009 in this part of the country.

In other words, a firm with revenues of $150,000 might list for $120,928. Remember, however, that this is strictly an average for revenue multiples in the area. Some firms will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.

According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its Long Island business-for-sale listings was $442,000 in Q3 2009.

To put this in perspective, the Q3 2008 revenue multiple was 0.84 and the median revenue for listed Long Island businesses was $428,000.

Cash Flow Multiples for Long Island, NY Businesses

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

Quarter
Median Cash
Flow Multiple
Q1 2007
2.95
Q2 2007
2.94
Q3 2007
2.99
Q4 2007
2.95
Q1 2008
2.94
Q2 2008
2.94
Q3 2008
2.91
Q4 2008
2.91
Q1 2009
2.91
Q2 2009
2.91
Q3 2009
2.90

As you probably know, cash flow multiples are another common way to value a business.

For Q3 2009, the average cash flow multiple for businesses listed in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metro area was 2.90.

So, a firm with cash flows of $110,000 might list for $318,570. That's only if the firm complies with the local average. Cash flow multiples will usually vary considerably based on many factors.

In case you were wondering what typical cash flows are for a business in Long Island, BizBuySell.com reports that the median cash flow for Long Island area businesses was $117,152 in Q3 2009. In Q3 2008, Long Island cash flow multiples averaged 2.91 and the median cash flow was $119,800.

Number of Long Island Businesses for Sale in the Dataset

The study data comprised 4815 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 Long Island, but they are close by and so are probably representative of Long Island business valuations.

One year ago, in Q3 2008, the BizBuySell.com dataset for Long Island spanned 5189 listings. The downward trend in the number of Long Island business-for-sale listings is indicative of the current down economy.

Can I Sell My Long Island, NY Business Now?

While some business owners are waiting to sell until the market turns around, this can be a mistake. When the market turns around, many businesses will rush to list themselves for sale and this could lead to lower sale prices because of the basic laws of supply and demand. For this reason, it might make sense to act counterintuitively to common wisdom on when it's the right time to sell a business. This good advice comes from Domenic Rinaldi, managing partner of Sun Acquisitions, a leading business brokerage firm.

Business Valuations for Long Island, NY Businesses

If you are considering buying a business or selling a business and would like to get an estimated company valuation, we suggest you try 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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