Buying a Business
Cost to Buy a Business in San Bernardino
Considering purchasing a company in San Bernardino, California? You're no doubt wondering how much a typical San Bernardino, California business costs to buy.
Fortunately, the folks at BizBuySell.com have made some data available on what it costs to buy a business in San Bernardino.
BizBuySell.com is the largest online marketplace for business-for-sale transactions. Their listings include almost all of the available listings from business brokers nationwide. In addition, many business owners who are selling on their own, without a broker, will place listings on BizBuySell.com.
If you are looking to buy a business in California, check out the BizBuySell California listings to see the latest business-for-sale listings for San Bernardino and other California towns.
San Bernardino, CA Business Valuations
According to BizBuySell.com, the median asking price for an San Bernardino business-for-sale listing in Q4 2008, the quarter when they most recently released their data, was $250,000.
That was based on 633 listings in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area. As such, some of the businesses used to derive the median valuation might be outside of San Bernardino, but they are nearby and so are probably representative of San Bernardino business valuations.
Note that this is the median asking price for a business. If you are in the market to buy a company, you may be able to buy an San Bernardino business for much less. At the same time, some San Bernardino businesses may cost much more.
Another thing you should know is that this is the asking price for an San Bernardino business. Typically, when a company owner lists a company for sale, they start with an asking price that is higher than the ultimate sale price. The sale-price-to-asking-price ratios depend on deal specifics but typically might be between 0.85 and 0.90. In other words, a business listed for $100,000 might sell for between $85,000 and $90,000.
If you are interested in trends in business-for-sale asking prices, here are the median asking prices for businesses in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area for the last 8 quarters.
Revenue Multiples In San Bernardino, CA
In the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area, companies will usually sell for 0.82 times the selling company's revenues. That was the mean revenue multiple for Q4 2008 in this area of the country.
In other words, a business that has revenues of $200,000 might list for $164,567. Remember, however, that this is simply an average for revenue multiples in the area. Some firms will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.
Here is how median revenue multiples are trending in the San Bernardino area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its business-for-sale listings was $439,766 in Q4 2008.
Cash Flow Multiples In San Bernardino, CA
Another popular way to value a business is through cash flow multiples.
For Q4 2008, the average cash flow multiple for businesses listed in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area was 3.12.
So, a business with cash flows of $120,000 might have an asking price of $374,571. That's if the business fits the area average. Actual cash flow multiples are based on business specifics.
The table below shows how cash flow multiples are trending in the San Bernardino area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
Flow Multiple
In case you were wondering what typical cash flows are for a business in San Bernardino, BizBuySell.com determined that the median cash flow for San Bernardino area businesses was $100,000 in Q4 2008.
Tips for San Bernardino, CA Business Buyers
Sellers want to be sure their business will continue to be successful. They want to find a buyer who has experience and will take care of the company's employees. As such, you are selling yourself to the current business owner and the professional team that represents the seller. You may think you are buying, but you also need to be selling. This useful tip for buying a business was provided by Domenic Rinaldi, managing partner of Chicagoland Sunbelt, a leading business brokerage firm.
Business Valuations for San Bernardino, CA Businesses
If you have a specific business in mind and want to value the business, we recommend the BizBuySell.com Business Valuation Tool. You can refine the dataset that generates business valuations to meet your specific needs, and access to the tool is very affordable -- less than $100.
More Information on BizBuySell.com's Quarterly Reports
The BizBuySell Insight Report is published on a quarterly basis. If you find this data interesting, be sure to visit BizBuySell.com Insights Report for more information.
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