Q3 2009 Business Valuation Data
Sell My Tacoma, WA Business
We just received the latest Tacoma, Washington business valuation data for Third Quarter 2009.
Median Ask Prices for Tacoma, WA Businesses
If you are interested in trends in business-for-sale asking prices, here are the median asking prices for businesses in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area for the last 11 quarters.
As shown in the table, Tacoma business-for-sale listings in Q3 2009 had a median asking price of $225,000.
That compares to a median ask price of $250,000 in Q3 2008. Given that Tacoma, WA median business asking prices appear to be dropping, it suggests that selling Tacoma businesses may be lowering their prices to make their businesses more attractive to buyers.
Revenue Multiples for Tacoma, WA Businesses
Here is how median revenue multiples are changing in the Tacoma area, based on BizBuySell.com's data.
In the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area, small companies will usually sell for 0.80 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 $119,566. Remember, however, that this is just an average for revenue multiples in the area. Some entities will have higher revenue multiples and others will have lower revenue multiples.
According to BizBuySell.com, the median revenues for its Tacoma business-for-sale listings was $434,411 in Q3 2009.
As a reference point, the Q3 2008 revenue multiple was 0.74 and the median revenue for listed Tacoma businesses was $465,264.
Cash Flow Multiples for Tacoma, WA Businesses
The table below shows how cash flow multiples are trending in the Tacoma area, based on BizBuySell.com's quarterly reports.
Flow Multiple
As you probably know, cash flow multiples are another useful method to value a business.
For Q3 2009, the average cash flow multiple for listed businesses in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area was 3.33.
So, a business with cash flows of $110,000 might list for $366,376. That's only if the firm complies with the local average. Most businesses will not conform to industry- or area averages.
In case you were wondering what typical cash flows are for a business in Tacoma, BizBuySell.com reports that the median cash flow for Tacoma area businesses was $98,000 in Q3 2009. In Q3 2008, Tacoma cash flow multiples averaged 3.28 and the median cash flow was $103,224.
Number of Tacoma Businesses for Sale in the Dataset
The study data comprised 265 listings in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area. As such, some of the businesses used to derive the median valuation might be outside of Tacoma, but they are nearby and so are probably representative of Tacoma business valuations.
One year ago, in Q3 2008, the BizBuySell.com dataset for Tacoma spanned 339 listings. The downward trend in the number of Tacoma business-for-sale listings is indicative of the current down economy.
Can I Sell My Tacoma, WA 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 Tacoma, WA Businesses
If you are contemplating buying a business or selling a business and would like to determine how much a business is worth, 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 published quarterly. If you find these trends interesting, take a moment to visit BizBuySell.com Insights Report for more information.
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