Valuation
Business valuation in San Antonio
Almost every owner who calls us wants a number before they want anything else. That is reasonable. The question underneath it — what would a real buyer, with real financing, actually pay for this business — deserves a real answer, built from your own documents rather than a rule of thumb from a trade publication.
This page walks through how that answer gets built locally, what it costs, and when you need something different from us entirely.
What goes into a local valuation
The starting point is always the same: three years of business tax returns and current internal financial statements, including an interim period through the most recent closed month. From those, we build adjusted earnings — Seller's Discretionary Earnings or, for larger companies, EBITDA — by identifying the owner's discretionary items sitting inside the reported numbers. The mechanics of that adjustment are covered in detail on how buyers read a P&L.
Alongside the numbers, we look at what makes a San Antonio or South Central Texas buyer's pool different from another market: local lease terms, the availability of SBA lending through community and regional banks active here, and what comparable businesses in manufacturing, distribution, health care, logistics, construction and services have actually sold for in this area. A general national multiple applied to a local business, without that context, produces a misleading number.
What we need from you, and how long it takes
Beyond the tax returns and interim statements, we typically ask for a copy of your lease, a list of equipment or vehicles included in a sale, and a short conversation about how dependent the business is on you personally. With that in hand, a properly prepared Broker Opinion of Value usually takes a couple of weeks. We would rather take that time than hand you a number on the first call that cannot survive a buyer's own due diligence.
Broker Opinion of Value versus a certified appraisal
A Broker Opinion of Value is built for one purpose: setting a realistic asking price and giving you a defensible position to negotiate from. It draws on market comparables, our knowledge of what similar businesses have actually sold for, and the same adjusted-earnings approach a buyer's lender will use.
A certified business appraisal is a different document, prepared by a credentialed appraiser under formal valuation standards, and it is required for purposes an Opinion of Value was never meant to serve — divorce proceedings, estate settlement, gift tax filings, and ESOP transactions all generally require one. If you are facing any of those situations, that is also the point to bring in your own attorney or CPA, since the valuation will likely be tied to a filing or a court proceeding that neither this page nor our office is positioned to advise on.
Stefan Lagmark has been a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers since 2004 and regularly performs limited independent business valuations, which informs how carefully our Opinions of Value are built, but that membership does not substitute for a certified appraisal when one is legally required. The distinction is covered further on the Broker Opinion of Value.
What is your business worth?
Find out with a Broker Opinion of Value — no fee, no obligation to list, no engagement letter. We ask for a short intake first so the number is worth having. Businesses under $100,000 in Seller's Discretionary Earnings, and businesses with less than five years of documented history, are more difficult to sell and to finance, and we will tell you that early rather than late.
Where the number goes next
Once you have a realistic Opinion of Value, the honest next question is whether the business is ready to bring that number to market, or whether time spent first would raise it. See what is my business worth for the underlying drivers of value, and preparing your business for sale if the answer is that a year or two of groundwork would pay for itself. If you decide to move forward now, sell my business — where to start covers what happens next.
Common questions
Questions owners ask us
- How much does a business valuation cost in San Antonio?
- A Broker Opinion of Value from our office has no fee, no engagement letter and no obligation to list. A certified business appraisal, prepared by a credentialed appraiser for legal purposes, is a separate paid engagement.
- How long does a valuation take?
- Once we have three years of tax returns, current internal statements and a conversation about how the business runs, a Broker Opinion of Value typically takes a couple of weeks to prepare properly. Rushing it produces a number that will not hold up to a buyer's scrutiny.
- Is a Broker Opinion of Value the same as an appraisal?
- No. An Opinion of Value is a broker's supported estimate of market value used to set a listing price and support negotiation. A certified appraisal is a credentialed, standards-based valuation prepared for legal or fiduciary purposes, and only that document should be used for those matters.
- What if I need a valuation for a divorce or an estate?
- Those situations generally require a certified appraisal from a credentialed appraiser, not a Broker Opinion of Value, and you should involve your attorney from the outset. We can point you toward that process, but we do not provide certified appraisals ourselves.