Market data · Main Street exits
Real numbers on
what businesses sell for.
Reviewed by Rob Ismoilov · M&A AdvisorPlatform footprint
Our advisors' aggregate closed-deal history.
These are self-reported career deal counts across the vetted brokers currently on Your Exit Path. Individual advisor profiles show the industries and deal ranges each one has closed.
Self-reported, aggregated across the roster.
Every profile is credential-verified before it goes public.
Weighted toward Main Street sub-$5M revenue transactions.
Home services, professional services, distribution, and more.
Aggregate counts include deals closed at advisors' prior firms. Per-advisor detail lives on each individual broker profile.
Public market benchmarks
Median exit multiples by industry.
Ranges below represent the P25–P75 band as reported in the two most-cited public Main Street quarterly reports. Multiples shift with recurring-revenue mix, customer concentration, and management depth — the price you actually clear depends on all three.
| Industry | SDE multiple | EBITDA multiple | Days to close | Primary buyer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
HVAC & plumbing Recurring maintenance contracts > 40% of revenue push into the top of the range. | 2.8×–4.2× | 5.0×–8.0× | 180–240 | PE-backed roll-up platform |
Restoration (water, fire, mold) Insurance-carrier direct-repair relationships materially raise the multiple. | 3.0×–4.5× | 5.5×–8.5× | 180–210 | Strategic consolidator + PE platform |
Landscaping & lawn care Commercial contract mix > 50% pushes multiples up; residential-only cluster lower. | 2.2×–3.5× | 4.0×–6.0× | 180–240 | PE-backed roll-up + regional strategic |
Manufacturing (sub-$5M) Customer concentration < 25% + documented processes are the two biggest multiple movers. | 2.5×–3.8× | 4.5×–6.5× | 210–300 | Search fund + strategic |
Distribution / wholesale Exclusive supplier agreements are a common deal breaker or maker. | 2.3×–3.5× | 4.0×–6.0× | 180–270 | Strategic (upstream or adjacent) |
Professional services (accounting, insurance) Insurance agencies with high renewal retention command 3.0×–4.5× revenue in some structures. | 2.5×–4.0× | 4.5×–7.0× | 150–240 | Adjacent strategic + PE-backed |
IT services / MSP MRR > 60% of revenue is the single biggest driver of top-of-range pricing. | 3.0×–4.5× | 5.5×–9.0× | 180–240 | PE-backed MSP platform |
Restaurants (independent) SBA-financed asset sales dominate; real-estate ownership shifts the analysis materially. | 1.5×–2.5× | 3.0×–4.5× | 150–210 | Individual operator + small group |
SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings) is the standard cash-flow metric for sub-$1M-EBITDA Main Street businesses. EBITDA is standard above $1M. Multiples above assume clean books, three years of accrual-basis financials, and no owner-dependency concentration.
Multiple mechanics
Why identical businesses sell for different multiples.
Two HVAC shops with the same $600K SDE can sell for 2.5× and 4.0× in the same quarter. Every dollar of that gap traces to one of the four levers below.
Recurring-revenue percentage
Contracts (maintenance, managed-services, retainers) trade at higher multiples than one-off jobs because buyers can underwrite them. Above ~40% recurring is where multiples materially step up in home-services categories. Above ~60% MRR is the pricing benchmark in IT services.
Customer concentration
Any single customer above 20% of revenue starts pulling the multiple down. Above 30% and most institutional buyers walk. Concentration below 15% across the top five is what a top-decile deal looks like.
Management depth
Businesses where the owner is the primary technician, salesperson, and decision-maker sell for less because the buyer has to replace three roles. A number two who owns the P&L or the largest customer relationships is worth 0.5×–1.0× of SDE on its own.
Book quality
Accrual-basis, reviewed financials with clear owner add-backs close 30–60 days faster than cash-basis books that need mid-diligence adjustment. Deals that die most often die in Quality of Earnings, not in negotiation.
Deal-structure norms
What "sale price" actually means.
Headline price is rarely the same as cash at close. Main Street deals typically split across three or four sources of consideration.
Cash at close
70–90% for well-run sub-$3M-revenue deals; often less when the business has customer concentration or aggressive add-backs. SBA-financed buyers cap at 90% for the business itself and often layer working-capital seller notes on top.
Seller note
5–15% typical, 3–7 year term, 6–8% interest. SBA rules require the seller note to be on standby (no principal payments) for at least 24 months when the buyer uses SBA 7(a) financing.
Earn-out
Deals above $2M EBITDA often carry a 10–25% earn-out over 2–3 years, tied to gross-profit or EBITDA retention. Search-fund and independent-sponsor deals use earn-outs more heavily than PE-platform acquirers.
Rollover equity
Above ~$1M EBITDA, PE-platform acquirers usually ask for 10–30% of consideration as rollover equity into the newly-formed HoldCo. This can be a real tax deferral, or a real risk — depends on the platform.
Structure norms above are consistent with the American Bar Association's M&A Committee Deal Point Studies for private-target transactions.
Trusted intermediary
Placement partner: Main Street Wealth M&A Advisors.
Named a Top 25 Lower Middle Market business broker by Axial for 1H 2026. The founding advisory team has closed 41+ transactions across 12 industries and specializes in sub-$5M revenue Main Street sales.
Important: The industry-level benchmark tables on this page reflect market-wide reporting from public sources (IBBA, BizBuySell). They are not claims about deals closed on Your Exit Path. Actual outcomes vary substantially based on the specific business, buyer type, and market timing. Multiples on this page are informational, not an offer to buy or sell any business, and are not an appraisal.
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