Free Trade Business Valuation Calculator
See what your trade or property-maintenance business could be worth to a buyer, and the specific things dragging the number down.
Buyers value a trade business on its profit, how much it depends on you, and how predictable its income is, not on turnover alone. Answer a few questions about your finances, contracts, team and reviews to get an estimated acquisition value, a score across the four factors buyers weigh, and a personalised report on how to lift it.
Win more of the jobs you quote.
Tradehand gives your trade business a whole office team without hiring anyone: it answers every enquiry, sends your quotes the same day and chases them until they land. There is no monthly fee. Tradehand takes 5% of an invoice, and only when the customer actually pays you, so a quiet month costs you nothing.
Get a free demoHow to use the Trade Business Valuation Calculator
- 1Step 1: enter your financials. Annual revenue, net profit (add your own salary back in, which gives you Seller's Discretionary Earnings), and your two-year revenue trend.
- 2Step 2: describe business quality. How much of your income is recurring/contracted, how concentrated your top clients are, and how dependent the business is on you personally.
- 3Step 3: add operations and reputation. Team size, years trading, whether you run on dedicated software, and your Google review score.
- 4Get your valuation. You'll see an estimated acquisition range, a 0-100 score on each of the four factors buyers weigh, and a personalised report on what to fix first.
How to work it out yourself
Small trade businesses are almost always valued on a multiple of profit, not turnover. The profit figure buyers use is SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings), your net profit with the owner's salary and one-off costs added back.
- Net profit £40,000 + owner's £30,000 salary added back = £70,000 SDE.
- Most small UK businesses sell for roughly 1.5× to 3× SDE (Lansley Commercial, UK business valuation guide, 2026).
- £70,000 × 2 = about £140,000, before adjusting for the risk factors below.
- Heavy owner-dependency drags the multiple down; recurring contracts, a real team and systems push it up.
The multiple is where most of the value is won or lost. A business that can't run without the owner sits at the bottom of the range; one with contracts, a team and clean books sits at the top. This tool scores exactly those factors.
Typical UK benchmarks
| Typical small trade business multiple | Most small UK businesses sell for 1.5×-3× adjusted earnings (SDE) (Lansley Commercial, UK business valuation guide, 2026) |
| Owner-dependency discount | A highly owner-operated business can lose 0.25×-0.75× off its multiple vs a low-dependency one, e.g. 2.4× vs 2.9× on the same profit (Lansley Commercial, owner-dependency valuation guide, 2026) |
| Recurring revenue multiple uplift | In Dealwise Advisory's worked example, a business built on multi-year contracted revenue sold at 5×-6× earnings vs 3.5×-4× for an equivalent transactional business (Dealwise Advisory, 13 July 2026) |
Disclaimer
This tool gives an estimate for general guidance only, based on typical UK figures and the details you enter. It is not a formal quote, survey, or professional advice. Always confirm with a qualified tradesperson before relying on any figure, as regional prices, site conditions, and current standards vary.
You do the job, Tradehand handles everything around it.
Tradehand sends the quotes, chases the invoices, books the work and keeps your customers updated, for no monthly fee and 5% of an invoice only once the customer has paid. One office hire costs about £25,000 a year, whether the invoices land or not.
Source: Office manager salary, National Careers Service
Get a free demoFrequently asked questions
How are small trade businesses actually valued?
Almost always as a multiple of profit, specifically SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings), which is your net profit with the owner's salary and one-off costs added back. Most small UK businesses sell for 1.5×-3× SDE (Lansley Commercial, UK business valuation guide, 2026). Turnover barely matters on its own; a £1m-revenue business with thin margins and total owner-dependency can be worth less than a lean, systemised one on half the turnover.
Why does owner-dependency lower my valuation so much?
Because a buyer is purchasing future profit they can actually collect. If the business only works when you're on the tools and answering every call, the buyer isn't buying a business; they're buying themselves a job. A highly owner-dependent business can lose 0.25×-0.75× off its multiple; in one worked example the same £60,000-profit business is worth £144,000 owner-dependent (2.4×) versus £174,000 with reduced owner reliance (2.9×) (Lansley Commercial, owner-dependency valuation guide, 2026).
Does recurring or contract revenue really move the number?
Yes, significantly. Maintenance contracts, retainers and repeat commercial clients make future income predictable, which is exactly what a buyer pays a premium for. In one worked comparison of two otherwise-identical £500,000-EBITDA businesses, the one with 70% of income under multi-year contracts sold at 5×-6× earnings, versus 3.5×-4× for the mostly transactional business, a £500,000-£1,250,000 difference in sale price for the same profit (Dealwise Advisory, 13 July 2026). Shifting even a portion of your work onto contracts can lift both your profit and your multiple.
What's the fastest way to increase what my business is worth?
Reduce how much the business depends on you: document your processes, delegate, and put dedicated job-management software in place so the operation isn't in your head. Then build recurring revenue and keep clean, separated books. The report this tool generates prioritises these for your specific situation.
Is this valuation good enough to sell on?
It's a well-grounded estimate to plan with, not a formal valuation. A broker or accountant will produce a defensible figure using your actual accounts. Use this to understand the range you're in and, more usefully, which levers move it.
How does Tradehand help my business be worth more?
The biggest drag on trade-business value is that it all lives in the owner's head. Tradehand gives the business its own office team, one that handles enquiries, quoting, scheduling, invoicing and chasing payment, so the business runs without you, which is the single thing buyers pay the most for. Get a free demo and we'll show you how it lifts your score.
