Q3 2009 Business Valuation Data

Sell My Wilmington, DE Business

We just received the latest Wilmington, Delaware business valuation data for Third Quarter 2009.

Median Ask Prices for Wilmington, DE Businesses

If you are interested in trends in business-for-sale asking prices, here are the median asking prices for businesses in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area for the last 11 quarters.

Quarter
Median Ask
Q1 2007
$225,000
Q2 2007
$225,000
Q3 2007
$246,950
Q4 2007
$250,000
Q1 2008
$250,000
Q2 2008
$260,000
Q3 2008
$260,000
Q4 2008
$275,000
Q1 2009
$290,000
Q2 2009
$289,000
Q3 2009
$275,000

As shown in the table, Wilmington 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. Since the median ask price for businesses for sale in Wilmington has gone up year over year, we can conclude that many smaller businesses in Wilmington are putting off selling.

Revenue Multiples for Wilmington, DE Businesses

Here is how median revenue multiples are trending in the Wilmington area, based on BizBuySell.com's data.

Quarter
Revenue Multiple
Q1 2007
0.81
Q2 2007
0.79
Q3 2007
0.85
Q4 2007
0.83
Q1 2008
0.87
Q2 2008
0.91
Q3 2008
0.89
Q4 2008
0.90
Q1 2009
0.87
Q2 2009
0.89
Q3 2009
0.93

In the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area, small companies will usually sell for 0.93 times the selling company's revenues. The data from BizBuySell.com indicates that is the mean revenue multiple for Q3 2009 in this metro area.

In other words, a firm with revenues of $150,000 might list for $140,196. Keep in mind that this is just an average for revenue multiples in Wilmington and surrounding communities. Some companies will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.

According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its Wilmington 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 Wilmington businesses was $400,000.

Cash Flow Multiples for Wilmington, DE Businesses

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

Quarter
Median Cash
Flow Multiple
Q1 2007
3.14
Q2 2007
3.03
Q3 2007
3.14
Q4 2007
3.16
Q1 2008
3.22
Q2 2008
3.41
Q3 2008
3.31
Q4 2008
3.31
Q1 2009
3.32
Q2 2009
3.35
Q3 2009
3.47

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 company 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. Most businesses will not conform to industry- or area averages.

If you are interested in what cash flows are for a business in Wilmington, BizBuySell.com reports that the median cash flow for Wilmington area businesses was $109,500 in Q3 2009. In Q3 2008, Wilmington cash flow multiples averaged 3.31 and the median cash flow was $101,000.

Number of Wilmington 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 Wilmington, but they are in the area and so are probably representative of Wilmington business valuations.

In Q3 2008, just one year ago, there were 931 Wilmington listings in the BizBuySell.com dataset. As a result of the recession, fewer Wilmington business owners are selling because they hope to weather the storm and sell after the economy turns around.

Can I Sell My Wilmington, DE 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 Wilmington, DE Businesses

If you are thinking about buying a business or selling a business and would like to determine how much a business is worth, 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 published quarterly. If you find these trends interesting, take a moment to visit BizBuySell.com Insights Report for more information.

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