Q3 2009 Business Valuation Data
Sell My Philadelphia, PA Business
We just received the latest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania business valuation data for Third Quarter 2009.
Median Ask Prices for Philadelphia, PA Businesses
If you are interested in trends in business-for-sale asking prices, here are the median asking prices for companies in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area for the last 11 quarters.
As you can see from the chart above, Philadelphia business-for-sale listings in Q3 2009 had a median asking price of $275,000.
That compares to a median ask price of $260,000 in Q3 2008. With median asking prices for Philadelphia, PA businesses for sale trending up, we can conclude that only businesses that know they can command a premium price are willing to sell in this tough market.
Revenue Multiples for Philadelphia, PA Businesses
Here is how median revenue multiples are tracking in the Philadelphia area, based on BizBuySell.com's data.
In the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area, small businesses will typically sell for 0.93 times the selling company's revenues. As the table above indicates, this 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 $140,196. Keep in mind that this is just an average for revenue multiples in the area. Some businesses will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.
According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its Philadelphia business-for-sale listings was $425,000 in Q3 2009.
As a reference point, the Q3 2008 revenue multiple was 0.89 and the median revenue for listed Philadelphia businesses was $400,000.
Cash Flow Multiples for Philadelphia, PA Businesses
The table below shows how cash flow multiples are trending in the Philadelphia area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
Flow Multiple
As you probably know, cash flow multiples are another common way to value a business.
For Q3 2009, the average cash flow multiple for listed businesses in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area was 3.47.
So, a business with cash flows of $110,000 might list for $382,149. That calculation is dependent on the business selling for the area's average multiple. In practice, cash flow multiples can vary considerably from one business type to another.
In case you were wondering what typical cash flows are for a business in Philadelphia, BizBuySell.com reports that the median cash flow for Philadelphia area businesses was $109,500 in Q3 2009. In Q3 2008, Philadelphia cash flow multiples averaged 3.31 and the median cash flow was $101,000.
Number of Philadelphia Businesses for Sale in the Dataset
The study data comprised 821 listings in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area. As such, some of the businesses used to derive the median valuation might be outside of Philadelphia, but they are in the area and so are probably representative of Philadelphia business valuations.
One year ago, in Q3 2008, the BizBuySell.com dataset for Philadelphia spanned 931 listings. The downward trend in the number of Philadelphia business-for-sale listings is indicative of the current down economy.
Should I Sell My Philadelphia, PA Business Now?
As long as you maintain confidentiality while selling a business, there's little harm in putting a business up for sale. Sure, it takes a lot of work, but investing in getting ready to sell now will have a payoff whenever you decide to actually sell. By simply listing a business for sale, and doing it now, you can get a feel for the market. Remember, you can always say no thanks to an offer you don't like. This helpful tip on buying a business comes from Domenic Rinaldi, managing partner of Sun Acquisitions, a leading business brokerage firm.
Business Valuations for Philadelphia, PA Businesses
If you are thinking about buying a business or selling a business and would like to appraise the value of a specific business, 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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