A main-street business in South Carolina typically sells for 1.5 to 2.5 times the owner's true annual earnings. Charleston or Spartanburg, same arithmetic. South Carolina's wrinkles are a 30-day tax certificate that must be timed right and courts that refuse to rescue a poorly written non-compete.
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 |
In South Carolina, a buyer who takes over your business can inherit your unpaid sales and use tax. The shield against that is a Certificate of Tax Compliance from the Department of Revenue, confirming everything is filed and paid. Nothing forces a buyer to demand one, but experienced buyers and their lawyers almost always do, and some hold back part of the price until it appears.
Here is the catch: the certificate is only valid for 30 days. Request it too early and it expires before closing; too late and the deal waits on the state. Work backward from your closing date, and make sure every return is filed before you ask.
South Carolina courts view non-competes with suspicion and will not blue pencil them. If even one term reaches too far, a judge will not trim it to something reasonable; the whole covenant can fail. That makes the drafting at your closing unusually high-stakes. Your buyer needs the agreement tight to protect what they bought, and you need to understand that a well-drafted one will absolutely bind you.
Treat every year and every mile in that covenant as enforceable, and put a licensed attorney's eyes on it before signing. One precise flat-fee review beats a lawsuit on either side of the deal.
South Carolina alcohol permits and licenses are issued to a particular person or entity at a particular location. Selling the restaurant does not sell the permit. Your buyer submits their own application to the Department of Revenue, and approval takes time. Fold that application into the deal schedule early so the business never has to stop serving while ownership flips.
Job one is pulling three years of business tax returns. SBA lenders treat that stack as the price of admission for financing a buyer, and financed buyers close most small business sales. See your free range below, then get a documented number in hand before the first serious conversation about price.
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.