Small business sale statistics 2026

Most listed small businesses never sell — roughly 70–80% — and the single biggest controllable cause is overpricing. The numbers below show what actually closes: sold businesses clear at 91–96% of asking, in a median of about 170–250 days, at multiples that roughly double from the smallest deals to $5M+.

Citing this page: “Small Business Sale Statistics 2026,” Succession Marketplace Research, successionmarketplace.com/research/small-business-sale-statistics.

The odds of selling

20–30%

of listed small businesses ever sell

35%

of deal failures are attributed to unrealistic valuations

91–96%

of the asking price is what sold businesses actually close at

After unrealistic pricing, the next most cited deal-killers are poor financial documentation (~25%), owner dependency (~20%) and seller unreadiness (~20%). All four are controllable — which is why we show an independent valuation on every listing and a documentation readiness score to every seller.

Bigger businesses sell for bigger multiples

The most robust finding in transaction data: valuation multiples roughly double across the size bands small sellers occupy.

Deal value	Metric	Median multiple
Under $500K	SDE	2.0–2.3×
$500K – $1M	SDE	2.5–2.8×
$1M – $2M	SDE	3.0–3.3×
$2M – $5M	EBITDA	3.9–4.1×
$5M – $50M	EBITDA	4.8–5.5×

Median SDE multiples by industry (sold deals)

Top ten of 18 tracked industries. Quartiles, EBITDA ranges, sale/ask ratios and days on market per industry are published in our industry selling guides.

Days on market by industry

Industry	Median SDE ×	Sale ÷ ask	Median days on market
Manufacturing	2.75×	0.92	218
Construction & Trades	2.15×	0.90	245
Retail (brick & mortar)	2.26×	0.89	228
E-commerce	3.28×	0.93	170
Restaurants & Food Service	1.85×	0.87	240
Professional Services (incl. accounting)	2.04×	0.91	250
Healthcare Services & Dental Practices	2.48×	0.93	200
IT Services & MSPs	2.85×	0.92	190
Software / SaaS (small)	2.85×	0.94	180
Wholesale & Distribution	2.88×	0.92	210
Transportation & Logistics	2.3×	0.90	230
Hospitality & Lodging	2.4×	0.90	260
Home Services (HVAC, plumbing, landscaping)	2.58×	0.93	185
Automotive Services & Repair	2.31×	0.91	220
Personal Services (salons, fitness)	1.95×	0.88	235
Education & Training Services	2.4×	0.92	215
Agriculture & Agribusiness	2.2×	0.89	280
Marketing & Media Agencies	2.25×	0.90	225

Sources

BizBuySell Insight Report (sold-listing medians, 2021–2025) — Industry SDE/EBITDA multiples, sale-to-ask ratios, days on market.
IBBA & M&A Source Market Pulse (Q3 2025, via Iconic) — Size-band multiple staircase; ~20–30% of listed businesses sell.
Exit Planning Institute / DueDilio business-sale failure research — 70–80% of listed businesses never sell; overpricing is the leading controllable cause.
BizBuySell & LoanBud SBA eligibility program (Jan 2026) — Lender-side validation that financeability is a first-class listing attribute.

Methodology notes and discount-rate parameters are documented in the free valuation calculator and our valuation research summary.