Business Valuation Services for Buyers Before You Make an Offer

Our business valuation services are built for buyers. Before you make an offer, TealBridge rebuilds the seller’s earnings from bank statements and tax returns, applies market multiples of SDE or EBITDA, cross-checks the result with asset and income approaches, and gives you a written valuation opinion with a recommended price range. It is a decision tool for pricing and negotiating, not a certified appraisal for a court or a lender.

The asking price of a small business is the seller’s opening position, usually set with the seller’s broker. A buyer needs an independent number, calculated from figures that have been checked. That number becomes the backbone of your offer and of the deal structure.

Who needs business valuation services as a buyer?

The service is for foreign investors buying an operating U.S. business, often to support an E-2 visa, with budgets from $100,000. Deals from $500,000 to $10 million are led by Anton Trunin, our M&A partner, who has built valuations and financial models for U.S. businesses with more than $200 million in combined revenue.

You need a buyer-side valuation if you are about to make an offer, if a seller’s asking price looks high relative to what the business seems to earn, or if you are comparing two or three candidates from the business search and need a consistent way to rank them.

How do we value a business for sale?

Step 1: Rebuild the earnings

We request three years of bank statements, tax returns, profit and loss statements and payroll records. The P&L is rebuilt from the bank statements, because they are the hardest record to adjust, and reconciled with the tax returns. Gaps between what the seller says, what the bank shows and what was reported to the IRS are listed line by line.

Step 2: Normalize to SDE or EBITDA

For owner-operated businesses we calculate seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE): net profit plus the owner’s salary, owner perks, interest, depreciation, amortization and genuine one-off costs. For larger companies with management in place we use EBITDA. Every add-back must be documented; an add-back the seller cannot support stays in the expenses.

Step 3: Apply three approaches

Small owner-operated businesses often sell for roughly 2x to 4x SDE, with higher multiples for larger, stable companies. Where a deal falls in that range depends on drivers we score explicitly: owner dependence, customer concentration, revenue trend, staff stability, lease terms, licensing and how clean the records are.

Step 4: Test it against your situation

A price can be fair in the market and still wrong for you. We check whether the business, after your salary, debt service and reinvestment, leaves enough cash to support your family, and for E-2 buyers whether it is likely to be more than marginal. We also model the effect of working capital and inventory on the cash you need at closing.

Step 5: Written valuation opinion

You receive a written opinion with a price range, the recommended opening offer, the walk-away price and the reasoning behind each. That document feeds directly into the letter of intent.

What do you receive?

• A rebuilt P&L from three years of bank statements, reconciled with tax returns.
• A normalized SDE or EBITDA with every add-back listed and either accepted or rejected.
• Results under the market, asset and income approaches, with the weighting explained.
• A recommended price range, opening offer and walk-away price.
• A list of questions for the seller and items to confirm in due diligence.

How do you price a business for sale when the numbers are unclear?

Price on what can be proven. Cash income that never reached the bank account or the tax return generally cannot be verified, and neither lenders nor immigration officers will rely on it. We show you how much of the seller’s story is documented and how much is not, then suggest how to bridge the gap: a lower cash price, an earn-out tied to future results, or a holdback. For the method in more depth, read our guide on how to value a business.

Is this a certified appraisal?

No. Our valuation is a buyer’s analysis for deciding what to offer and how to structure it. It is not a certified appraisal for a court, a divorce, an estate, a tax filing or a lender.

Some situations require a formal appraisal by a credentialed appraiser (for example, an accredited member of a recognized appraisal body). SBA 7(a) lenders financing a change of ownership often require an independent business valuation under SBA rules. When a lender, court or tax matter calls for one, we can arrange a certified appraisal separately with an independent appraisal firm and share our analysis with them.

Where a deeper accounting review is warranted, usually in larger deals, a CPA firm can prepare a quality of earnings report. Tax consequences of the purchase price allocation, reported on IRS Form 8594 in an asset purchase, belong with your CPA.

How long does a valuation take and what does it cost?

Timing depends mostly on how fast the seller delivers documents. A preliminary price view is possible once the first financial summaries arrive; the full valuation opinion follows once bank statements and tax returns are in hand, usually within the 30 to 60 days typical for due diligence. TealBridge fees are a fixed quote after the first consultation; see what an acquisition costs for the full structure.

Next step

Send us the listing or the seller’s summary and we will tell you what we need to value the business and whether the asking price is worth pursuing. TealBridge works on the buyer side only: search, valuation, negotiation support, due diligence and launch. Contact us before you make an offer.