A main-street business in Georgia typically sells for 1.5 to 2.5 times the owner's true annual earnings. Whether you are in metro Atlanta or a county seat, the valuation math does not change. Georgia's closing rules do, and three of them reward sellers who prepare.
Your tax returns almost always prove a higher number.
Upload three years of tax returns, about 15 minutes of your time. A real person reads every page and your package is delivered within 48 hours. If your package isn't right, you don't pay: full refund any time before we deliver, and after delivery we fix the numbers or refund you.
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| Business type | Revenue multiple | Owner-earnings (SDE) multiple |
|---|---|---|
| Hair salon / Barbershop | 0.35 to 0.65 times yearly revenue | 1.5 to 2.5 times owner earnings |
| Cleaning service | 0.5 to 0.9 times yearly revenue | 1.8 to 2.8 times owner earnings |
| Landscaping / Lawn care | 0.45 to 0.85 times yearly revenue | 1.8 to 2.8 times owner earnings |
| Restaurant / Cafe | 0.25 to 0.45 times yearly revenue | 1.3 to 2.2 times owner earnings |
| Auto repair / Detailing | 0.4 to 0.75 times yearly revenue | 1.9 to 3.1 times owner earnings |
| Retail shop | 0.3 to 0.6 times yearly revenue | 1.8 to 3 times owner earnings |
| Other service business | 0.35 to 0.7 times yearly revenue | 1.5 to 2.5 times owner earnings |
Georgia Code Section 48-8-46 orders your buyer to sit on the purchase money until you produce either a receipt showing your sales taxes are paid or a certificate from the Department of Revenue that nothing is owed. A buyer who pays you anyway becomes personally liable for your unpaid tax, up to everything they paid you, so counsel on the other side will enforce this to the letter.
Georgia has made your side of it easier than most states: you can request the tax clearance through the Georgia Tax Center online. The department will not issue it while returns are unfiled or a balance is open, so clean up the account first, then submit the request weeks before your target closing date.
Since 2011, Georgia's Restrictive Covenants Act has governed non-competes, and it treats business sellers differently from employees. For the seller of a business, a restraint lasting up to five years, or as long as the buyer is still making payments to you, is presumed reasonable. Georgia courts can also trim an overbroad covenant instead of throwing it out, so do not count on a drafting error rescuing you.
Translation: the non-compete in your purchase agreement will very likely bind you exactly as written, possibly for half a decade. Negotiate it deliberately and pay a licensed Georgia attorney one flat fee to review it before signatures.
Georgia licenses salons and barbershops at two levels: the individual professionals and the shop itself. When you sell, your stylists keep their personal licenses, but the shop license issued to you does not follow the business. Your buyer applies to the State Board of Cosmetology and Barbers for their own.
The fix costs nothing but foresight. Have the buyer submit their shop application during due diligence so the chairs stay full straight through the ownership change.
Order copies of your business tax returns for the last three years today. When your buyer seeks an SBA loan, which is how most Georgia main-street purchases get funded, the lender's checklist starts with those three years of returns. Use the free tool below to see your range, then get the number documented before you discuss price with anyone.
Most main-street businesses sell for 1.5 to 2.5 times the owner's true yearly earnings, or their replacement value, whichever is higher and can be proven. True earnings means salary plus profit plus the personal things the business pays for. Most owners forget those add-backs count, so most owners guess low.
SBA lenders require three years of business tax returns to finance a buyer. Three years also shows a trend, not a snapshot. We saw a salon whose latest year looked like decline. Three years proved it was one expensive staffing year, and that was worth tens of thousands on her price. Fewer years looks like hiding. More rarely changes the number.
No. YourBizWorth is not a broker, appraiser, or law firm. We prepare your analysis and drafts. We flag exactly which steps need a licensed attorney, usually one flat-fee engagement at closing, often payable from the sale money. We make the lawyer cheaper, not absent.