What Florida Businesses Actually Sold For: Real Transaction Data (2026)

Every Florida business owner considering a sale asks the same question: what did businesses like mine actually sell for? Not theoretical multiples from a textbook. Not ranges so wide they are meaningless. Actual closed deals, with real numbers attached. The problem is that most transaction data in the lower middle market is private. Buyers and sellers sign confidentiality agreements, and the details stay locked in closing binders. But patterns emerge. After advising on dozens of Florida M&A transactions across industries, certain truths about what drives — and kills — sale prices become unmistakable. This is what the data actually looks like. ## Why Published Multiples Are Misleading If you search for "EBITDA multiples by industry," you will find tables showing neat ranges — 4x to 6x for construction, 5x to 8x for healthcare, and so on. Those tables are not wrong, but they are dangerously incomplete. Published multiples typically reflect national averages across all deal sizes. A $50 million EBITDA company selling at 8x has almost nothing in common with a $500,000 SDE business selling at 2.5x, yet both get averaged into the same industry bucket. For Florida businesses in the $3 million to $50 million revenue range — the core of the market where most owners operate — the actual transaction prices cluster much tighter than the published ranges suggest. The variable is not the industry. It is the quality of the business. ## What Actually Drives the Sale Price Across closed Florida transactions, five factors explain roughly 80 percent of the variation in price: - **Owner dependency** — A business that cannot operate for 90 days without the owner takes a 20 to 40 percent discount. Period. Buyers price in the risk that revenue walks out the door with the seller. - **Revenue concentration** — If one customer represents more than 20 percent of revenue, expect the multiple to compress by 0.5x to 1.0x. Two customers above 15 percent has the same effect. Buyers see concentration as a ticking clock. - **Recurring or contracted revenue** — Maintenance contracts, subscription models, and multi-year agreements push multiples up by 0.5x to 1.5x compared to project-based or one-time revenue. An HVAC company with 2,000 maintenance contracts sells for materially more than one doing the same revenue on break-fix calls. - **Clean financial records** — Businesses with three years of tax returns matching their internal financials, a clear chart of accounts, and minimal add-backs close faster and at higher multiples. A quality of earnings report that surfaces surprises costs the seller money — every time. - **Growth trajectory** — A business growing 10 to 15 percent annually commands a premium. A business that peaked two years ago and is declining sells at a discount regardless of current EBITDA. Buyers pay for the trend line, not the snapshot. ## Real Florida Transaction Patterns by Industry The following table reflects patterns observed across closed transactions in Florida's lower middle market. These are not published averages — they are grounded in actual deal outcomes for businesses between $3 million and $50 million in revenue.

Industry	Typical SDE/EBITDA Multiple	Deal Structure	Key Price Driver
HVAC / Mechanical	3.5x–5.0x SDE	70–80% cash at close, seller note or earnout	Maintenance contract base, technician retention
Construction / Specialty Trade	3.0x–4.5x SDE	60–75% cash, holdback common	Backlog, bonding capacity, license transferability
Healthcare / Medical Practice	4.0x–7.0x EBITDA	80–90% cash, non-compete enforced	Payer mix, provider retention, referral stability
Professional Services	3.0x–5.0x SDE	50–70% cash, earnout on retention	Client concentration, key employee dependency
Landscaping / Lawn Care	2.5x–4.0x SDE	SBA-financed, 70–90% cash	Recurring contract percentage, crew stability
Manufacturing	4.0x–6.0x EBITDA	75–85% cash, working capital adjustment	Equipment condition, customer diversification
Restaurants / Food Service	2.0x–3.5x SDE	SBA-financed, asset-heavy	Lease terms, brand vs. franchise, location dependency
Technology / SaaS	4.0x–8.0x EBITDA	80–100% cash, IP assignment	Monthly recurring revenue, churn rate, tech stack
Insurance Agencies	2.0x–3.0x revenue	70–80% cash, retention earnout	Book retention rate, carrier diversification

A few things stand out. First, the ranges within each industry are wide — a 2.5x versus a 4.0x on a landscaping company with $400,000 in SDE means a difference of $600,000 in sale price. That gap is entirely explained by the quality factors listed above, not the industry label. Second, deal structure matters as much as headline price. A seller who gets 90 percent cash at close on a 3.5x deal often walks away with more certainty than one who gets 4.5x with 40 percent in an earnout tied to post-sale performance they no longer control. ## The SBA Factor in Florida Transactions A significant portion of Florida business acquisitions in the $1 million to $5 million range are financed through SBA 7(a) loans. This matters for sellers because SBA deals have structural constraints that affect price: - SBA lenders typically require the seller to carry a standby note of 10 to 20 percent of the purchase price, subordinated to the SBA loan with no payments for the first two years - Total debt service coverage must hit 1.25x, which effectively caps the purchase price at what the business can service from cash flow - Full seller transition periods of 60 to 120 days are standard, sometimes longer The practical effect is that SBA-financed deals tend to price 10 to 15 percent below what an all-cash buyer or private equity group might pay — but they close at a significantly higher rate because the financing is already structured. For many Florida sellers, the certainty of an SBA deal at 3.5x beats a letter of intent at 4.5x from a buyer who cannot get funded. ## What Kills Deals Before They Close Knowing what businesses sell for is only useful if the deal actually closes. In Florida, roughly 40 to 50 percent of signed letters of intent never make it to a closing table. The most common reasons, in order of frequency: - **Financial restatement surprises** — The buyer's quality of earnings analysis reveals that adjusted EBITDA is 15 to 30 percent lower than what the seller represented. Add-backs that the seller considered normal — personal expenses through the business, above-market family salaries, one-time revenue — do not survive professional scrutiny. - **Lease problems** — The landlord will not assign or extend the lease on favorable terms. For businesses where location matters (restaurants, retail, medical practices), a hostile landlord can unwind an entire transaction. - **Undisclosed liabilities** — Tax liens, pending litigation, environmental issues, or employment claims that surface during due diligence. Every one of these is better disclosed upfront than discovered by the buyer's attorney. - **Seller cold feet** — The seller realizes what life after the sale actually looks like and pulls back. This is more common than most people admit, particularly with founders who have owned the business for 20 or more years. - **Buyer financing collapse** — The buyer's lender declines the deal after underwriting, often because the business did not meet SBA eligibility requirements or the buyer's personal financial position was weaker than represented. ## How to Position Your Business for Maximum Value If you are a Florida business owner planning to sell in the next 12 to 24 months, the transaction data points to a clear playbook: Start with your financials. Hire a CPA to prepare clean, tax-return-aligned financial statements for the last three years. Identify and document every add-back with supporting evidence. If your books are a mess, fix them now — the cost of a few thousand dollars in accounting work returns ten to fifty times that amount in sale price. Reduce owner dependency. Start delegating customer relationships, vendor management, and day-to-day decisions to your management team. If you do not have a management team, build one. A business that runs without the owner is categorically more valuable than one that does not. Diversify your customer base. If your top three customers represent more than 40 percent of revenue, invest in sales and marketing to broaden the base before you go to market. This takes time, which is why planning 18 to 24 months ahead matters. Lock in your lease. Negotiate a lease extension or renewal option before you list the business. Buyers and their lenders want to see at least five years of remaining lease term. Get a professional valuation. Not a free online calculator estimate — a broker's opinion of value from an M&A advisor who understands your industry and the Florida market. This establishes a realistic price expectation and identifies issues you can fix before going to market. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What multiple should I expect when selling my Florida business? For businesses in the $3 million to $50 million revenue range, most Florida transactions close between 3.0x and 5.0x SDE for smaller deals and 4.0x to 7.0x EBITDA for larger ones. The specific multiple depends on owner dependency, revenue concentration, growth trajectory, and financial documentation quality — not just industry. ### Do Florida businesses sell for more than the national average? Florida's favorable tax environment (no state income tax), population growth, and strong small business economy generally support valuations at or slightly above national averages for comparable businesses. The state's growing buyer pool — including relocating entrepreneurs and private equity groups targeting Sun Belt markets — creates genuine competitive demand. ### How much of the sale price will I receive at closing? In most Florida transactions, sellers receive 60 to 90 percent of the purchase price at closing, with the remainder in a seller note, earnout, or holdback. SBA-financed deals typically require a 10 to 20 percent seller note. All-cash deals from private equity or strategic buyers may close at 90 to 100 percent cash. ### Should I sell to an SBA buyer or hold out for a cash buyer? It depends on your priorities. SBA buyers offer structured, reliable financing but the total price may be 10 to 15 percent lower than what an all-cash buyer offers. Cash buyers (private equity, strategic acquirers) may pay more but are fewer in number and their due diligence tends to be more rigorous. A good M&A advisor will run a competitive process to surface both types. ### What is the biggest mistake Florida sellers make that costs them money? Going to market too early — before financials are clean, before owner dependency is reduced, and before the business is genuinely ready for a new owner. The second biggest mistake is overpricing based on revenue rather than adjusted earnings, which wastes months of market time and burns through qualified buyers. ## The Bottom Line Florida's M&A market is active, and quality businesses are selling at strong multiples. But the gap between what a well-prepared business commands and what an unprepared one settles for is enormous — often 30 to 50 percent of the total transaction value. If you are considering selling your Florida business and want to understand what it is actually worth based on current market data, CBH Business Group offers a confidential, no-obligation valuation. Use our free valuation calculator at https://cbhbusinessgroup.com/valuation-calculator or schedule a direct conversation with Jesse Hastings at https://calendly.com/jesse-cbhadvisory. You can also call (407) 908-3845. Named a Top 50 Broker in Florida (2024 and 2025) and the number one Top Dollar Producer in Central Florida (2025), CBH advises Florida business owners on transactions from $3 million to $50 million.