Business Valuation Calculator
Estimate your service business's enterprise value today, model what operational improvements unlock, and see the bridge between the two. Useful even if you're not selling.
Your business today
The current state. Be honest. The math falls apart if inputs are aspirational.
What ControlShift unlocks
Targets are pre-set to typical post-engagement outcomes. Tune them to match your ambition.
EBITDA lift drivers
Three structured levers, not a hand-wavy single percentage. Each maps to specific operational work ControlShift does.
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The valuation bridge
Why the number moves. The lift decomposes into EBITDA growth and multiple expansion. Both compound.
Current
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+ EBITDA lift
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+ Multiple lift
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Lever attribution
Where the lift comes from, lever by lever.
| Operational lever | Multiple / EBITDA delta | $ value impact |
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Email me my results
Get a copy of these numbers in your inbox, plus a written summary of what the lift means for your business and what a ControlShift engagement covers.
How we got to this number
Different businesses get valued different ways. Here's what we use and why, plus when the alternatives actually apply.
EBITDA × Industry Multiple Primary, for $1M+ EBITDA
For trade, field-service, and professional-services businesses in the $2M-$20M revenue range, the dominant valuation framework used by strategic buyers, private-equity acquirers, and business brokers. Answers the deal question cleanly: "How many years of current cash profit is a rational buyer willing to pay upfront?" Directly improvable by the operational moves in this calculator, and it's what actually gets used in diligence.
SDE × Multiple Auto-applied for <$1M profit owner-operator
For smaller owner-operator businesses (typically under $1M in profit and $2M revenue), where the founder's compensation, perks, and one-time expenses are added back to normalize profitability. Standard broker method for Main-Street deals. At larger scale, SDE framing can actually hurt you in diligence — buyers expect owner comp to normalize into a market-rate leadership line in their pro-forma.
Revenue Multiple (ARR / TTM)
When it applies: Software, SaaS, or subscription businesses with 70%+ gross margins and largely predictable revenue (MRR/ARR). Also for high-growth pre-profit businesses where EBITDA isn't a stable frame.
Why not here: Service businesses have blended margins driven by labour and delivery cost, not the software economics a revenue multiple assumes. Valuing on revenue would under-weight the quality of your cash generation relative to your top line.
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)
When it applies: Large, mature businesses with predictable 5-10 year cash-flow projections and known capex cycles. Used by financial acquirers inside deal modelling.
Why not here: At the sub-$20M revenue range, DCF is highly sensitive to discount-rate and terminal-growth assumptions. Small input changes move the output dramatically. DCF at this scale looks academic, not actionable.
Asset-Based / Book Value
When it applies: Asset-heavy businesses (manufacturing, real estate holding, fleet-intensive operations) or distressed situations where the going-concern premium has evaporated.
Why not here: For a well-run service operation, the majority of transferable value is goodwill (brand, systems, client relationships, team). An asset-based method floor-values the tangible assets but misses most of what a strategic buyer actually pays for.
Caveats — read before anchoring on the number
- This is an illustrative estimate, not a formal valuation. It's directional, it tells you what operational improvements are worth, not what a buyer will actually pay on a given Tuesday.
- Real transaction prices vary with market conditions, buyer type (strategic vs financial), deal structure (cash at close vs earnout vs rollover equity), and specific diligence findings.
- A proper valuation for an exit-readiness conversation needs a Quality of Earnings (Q of E) analysis and a comparable-transactions study, typically a $15K-$35K engagement with a CBV-credentialed advisor or boutique investment bank.
- Use these numbers as a lens on the return-on-investment of operational moves, not as a sale-price expectation.
Legal disclaimer
This valuation estimate is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a formal business valuation under the standards of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators (CICBV) or any equivalent professional body, and it is not investment, financial, tax, or legal advice. The figures shown are directional approximations derived from generalized industry data and rule-of-thumb operational adjustments. They do not reflect the specific facts of your business, are not based on a Quality of Earnings analysis or comparable-transactions study, and should not be relied upon for any transaction.
Real transaction prices vary significantly based on factors this tool cannot assess, including but not limited to: quality of earnings adjustments, working capital normalization, customer concentration nuances, intellectual property, contractual obligations, market conditions, deal structure, and buyer-specific synergies.
Expansive EDGE makes no representation or warranty regarding the accuracy of these estimates and disclaims all liability for decisions made in reliance on them. Before entering into any sale, financing, recapitalization, or shareholder transaction, engage a CBV-credentialled valuator and qualified legal and accounting counsel.
Make your business worth more.
Owner-independent + documented + diversified + recurring = a meaningfully higher multiple. ControlShift is the engineered path to all four.