2025 Business Valuation Trends: What Nashville and Southeast Business Owners Need to Know
If you’re a business owner in The Southeast, you’ve probably felt some shifts lately. 2025 is already shaping up to be an interesting year.
Here’s what we’re seeing:
Compared to the frenzy of 2021–2022, buyers today are taking a more measured approach. They’re still buying businesses, but they’re much more selective. The top businesses are selling quickly and for top dollar, but many others are sitting on the market.
Clean financials, operational documentation, and management depth matter now more than ever.
Here in the Southeast, we’re still seeing healthy multiples in industries like home services, healthcare, niche manufacturing, and logistics. On the flip side, retail and restaurant categories have softened a bit due to labor challenges and tighter margins.
For companies with $150K–$500K in Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE), multiples are typically landing in the 2.0–3.0x range, but quality matters. A business with recurring revenue and a management team in place to run the day-to-day operation will fetch a higher multiple than one relying solely on owner hustle; expect these to push 3.5x SDE.
With higher interest rates still lingering, SBA lenders are seemingly more conservative and new guidelines just released will only make this more difficult. This is having an significant impact on earnings multiples, driving them down. And d agging overall value down with them.
Conclusion:
The best time to start thinking about your exit isn’t when you’re ready to walk away; it’s 12 to 24 months before that. Even small changes now (for example: reviewing/cleaning up your financials, training a general manager, and locking in key customer contracts) will significantly impact your valuation later.
If you’re curious about what your business is worth, or just want to start planning, please reach out. A short conversation might be worth hundreds of thousands (or more) a couple years from now!
Patrick Marsch
Owner
Nashville Business Brokers
Pinson Group Business Advisors
