A main-street business in Oregon typically sells for 1.5 to 2.5 times the owner's true annual earnings. Portland or Pendleton, the valuation math is identical. Oregon has no sales tax, which removes one classic closing headache, but payroll taxes and contractor licensing step in to fill the gap.
Your tax returns almost always prove a higher number.
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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 | 1.7 to 2.6 times owner earnings |
| Retail shop | 0.3 to 0.6 times yearly revenue | 1.5 to 2.3 times owner earnings |
| Other service business | 0.35 to 0.7 times yearly revenue | 1.5 to 2.5 times owner earnings |
Sellers in most states sweat a sales tax clearance at closing. Oregon has no sales tax, so that entire problem disappears. What does not disappear is successor liability for employment obligations. Unpaid payroll withholding and transit taxes, and even certain unpaid wage claims, can chase the business into your buyer's hands.
That means diligence in Oregon zeroes in on your payroll records. Expect the buyer to comb through withholding filings and expect a hold-back if anything looks behind. Bring every payroll filing current before you list, and the review turns into a rubber stamp.
Oregon puts hard statutory limits on employee non-competes, including a short maximum duration and a salary floor, and agreements that miss the requirements are unenforceable. None of that machinery applies to you as a seller. A non-compete signed as part of selling your business falls outside the employment statute and is enforced under ordinary reasonableness rules, because your buyer paid for the goodwill it protects.
So do not let anyone tell you Oregon non-competes are toothless. Yours has teeth. Review the years and the territory with a licensed attorney before signing, typically one flat-fee session at closing.
Construction businesses in Oregon operate under a Construction Contractors Board license, and landscaping companies need their own license from the Landscape Contractors Board. Both are issued to a specific business entity, and neither rides along when you sell. Your buyer must hold their own license before the crews can legally work under the new ownership. Put that application at the top of the closing checklist so trucks keep rolling on day one.
Your opening move is boring and decisive: collect three years of business tax returns. SBA lenders build a buyer's loan on that exact paper trail, and most main-street purchases depend on one. Grab your free valuation range below, then have your number documented before quoting a price to anybody.
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.