How to value a business: 7 strategies you can try

7 ways to value a business

Wondering how to calculate a valuation of a company? There are a few different approaches you can take, and we explain more on each of these below.

• value the assets of a business
• compare share price with earnings
• entry cost
• discounted cash flow
• industry rules of thumb
• valuation based on what can’t be measured
• enterprise value

1. Add up the value of assets

Adding up the value of all the assets in a business is a good way to work out how much a business is worth. This includes everything from stock and materials to machinery.

Stable, established businesses with a lot of tangible assets are often suited to being valued on these assets. Good examples of businesses like this are those in property and manufacturing.

Bear in mind you'll also need to subtract any debts or liabilities from your asset valuation.

To do an asset valuation, you need to start with working out the Net Book Value (NBV) of the business. These are the assets recorded in the company’s accounts.

Then, you should think about the economic reality surrounding the assets. Essentially, this means adjusting the figures according to what the assets are actually worth.

For instance, old stock depreciates in value. If there are debts that aren’t likely to be paid, knock those off. And property could have changed in value, so refine those figures, too.

2. Compare share price with earnings

Another business valuation method is looking at the value of company shares compared to earnings.

The formula to work this out is called price to earnings ratio (P/E ratio).

It’s used in the stock market world to work out if a company’s stock is valued at the right price. To work out P/E value you need to divide stock price by your business’s earnings (net profit) by share.

But you can also use this formula for your private limited company shares, if it’s not listed on the stock exchange.

3. Entry cost

This is a simple one – how much would it cost to set up a similar business to the one being valued?

Factor in everything that got the business to where it is today and the costs associated with that. Make a note of all the startup costs, then its tangible assets. How much would it cost to develop any products, build up a customer base, and recruit and train staff?

After that, think about savings you could make when setting up. If you can save money by locating the business somewhere else or by using cheaper materials, subtract that from the figure.

When you’ve taken everything into account, you’ve got your entry cost – and a valuation.

4. Discounted cash flow

This is a complex way of valuing a business, relying on assumptions about its future. The technique is suited to mature businesses with stable, predictable cash flows – think of utilities companies.

Discounted cash flow works by estimating what future cash flow would be worth today. You can reach a valuation by adding the dividends forecast for the next 15 or so years, plus a residual value at the end of the period.

You calculate today’s value of each future cash flow using a discount rate, which accounts for the risk and time value of the money. The time value of money is based on the idea that £1 today is worth more than £1 tomorrow, because of its earning potential.

5. Industry rules of thumb

Buying and selling businesses can be more common in particular industries, so those industries might have certain rules of thumb that you can use as a guide. They’ll be based on things other than profit.

Let’s look at retail. Rules of thumb here mean that businesses are valued on factors like business turnover, how many customers it has, and its number of outlets.

It’s a good way for a buyer to value the business based on how they expect to shake things up and get operations to industry-standard.

6. Valuing a business on what can’t be measured

This brings us round to what we said at the beginning – a business is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Intangible assets mentioned earlier could be considered here, with negotiation skill playing a part, too.

If the business has desirable relationships with customers or suppliers, it might be more valuable to a buyer.

If the buyer doesn’t have a stable team behind them to take the business forward, a strong management team (that won’t jump ship) could also add value.

And each prospective buyer might see different risks, variably lowering the value. The key as a business owner is to pre-empt any risks and minimise them.

7. How to calculate enterprise value

Enterprise value (EV) looks at the whole company to work out a business valuation. It’s useful for investors and business analysts as it includes business equity and debt as well as market valuation.

The formula to calculate enterprise value is:

Enterprise value = market capitalisation + market value of debt – cash and equivalents

It’s a formula often used in mergers and acquisitions of companies.

EV is also used to work out EBITDA, another useful measure for understanding business financial performance.

How is a company valuation used?

Beyond economic reasons like buying and selling a company, company valuations can also help when:

• securing investment – think of Dragons’ Den, where investors want to see a realistic figure and value in the deal you give them
• setting a fair price for employees – if your employees want to buy and sell shares in the company
• growing or expanding your business – an annual valuation helps to secure funding and focus your energy on areas for improvement
• filing your taxes – you might need to provide valuation figures as part of your company tax return
• establishing a business partnership – or buying out an existing business partner

Ultimately, you want to reach a valuation that doesn’t sell the business short. It also shouldn’t overstate what the business is actually worth.

It’s tricky to find a balance – if you’re finding the valuation easy, you might need to revisit your method. It’s a good idea to combine a couple of valuation techniques.

What affects business valuation?

While there are some parts of a business you can value easily, there are always going to be intangible assets.

Beyond stock and fixed assets (like land and machinery), which are tangible and have clear value, you should also look at:

• the business’s reputation
• the value of the business’s customers
• the business’s trademarks
• the circumstances surrounding the valuation (like a forced sale rather than a voluntary one)
• the age of the business (consider startups making a loss that have lots of future potential, versus established profit-making companies)
• the strength of the team behind the business
• what kind of product you have

These intangible assets make it fairly difficult to reach an accurate valuation, but some of the techniques we've mentioned in this guide can help you work it out.

How do you value a business based on turnover?

Business turnover is when you work out your business income over a set period of time (for example the tax year). This is the number of sales you’ve made – also known as the ‘net sales’ figure. However, this mustn’t be confused with profit, which is your earnings after deducting expenses.

Calculating turnover is a useful step to understanding the health of your business fairly quickly, but will need to be compared to gross profit and net profit to give a full picture. Read our guide on how to calculate business turnover to find out more.

How much is a business worth?

As we mentioned earlier, valuing a business can help you focus on areas for improvement. There are lots of things you can do to help secure a good valuation, including:

• planning ahead: have a solid business plan, with a focus on how you’re going to achieve both short-term and long-term results
• reducing risk: for instance, if you rely on a particular group of customers, consider diversifying
• putting great processes in place: think about how you store information, whether it’s financial records or simply how the business works. Often, the more you can show, the higher the confidence in the business

What works for one business won’t always work for another. By giving an overview of several popular business valuation methods, though, we hope you’re closer to understanding how much your business is worth.

General finance and accounting guides

For more tips and resources on accounting and finance for small businesses, check out the links below:

• get a snapshot of the health of your business with our guide to doing a balance sheet – it shows your business’s assets and liabilities
• keep track of your business income and expenses with our free budget calculator template and guide
• understand how to increase profit of your business
• research the best accounting software for small businesses
• find out more about business insurance and what it covers

This guide is on how to value a business in the UK. Some methods are more suited to larger companies but many will be useful for small businesses, too.

As always, with complex topics like business finance, please treat this article as a guide and get professional advice if you’re not sure about anything.