Every business for sale comes from one of two places — the on-market marketplaces and brokers everyone can see, and the far larger pool of owners who never list. DealStratum is the buyer-first platform built to cover both, so you’re first to the deals that fit your buy box.
Updated June 12, 2026 · live market data refreshed daily
Live from the Waterfall — the medians buyers actually price on, across every active listing we track. Refreshed daily and de-duped across the marketplaces and broker sites we cover.
The median business for sale asks ~$360,000 on ~$180,000 of annual cash flow — about 2.0× earnings. Smaller owner-operated businesses trade for well under six figures; lower-middle-market deals run into the millions. The point isn’t the exact figure — it’s that a clear price and cash-flow range (your Buy Box) lets you ignore the listings that were never a fit.
Rounded live medians from the marketplaces and broker sites we track — not an appraisal. DealStratum doesn’t value businesses or give financial advice; it helps you find and reach the ones that fit your Buy Box.
Every business for sale comes from one of two pools. On-market is the major marketplaces and the brokers who post publicly — easy to browse, heavily competed for. Off-market is the much larger group of owners who’d sell to the right buyer but never listed — harder to reach, largely uncontested. Most buyers only work one; the edge is covering both, and here’s how DealStratum maps to each.
The major marketplaces and broker sites pulled into one live, de-duped feed and filtered to your buy box — so you see fitting listings the morning they post, without living in twelve browser tabs.
Build target lists of owners in your industry, size, and geography — the ones who never list — so you can start conversations on deals nobody else is competing for.
Turn an off-market target list into real outreach — reach owners directly by mail and open the door before any deal hits a marketplace.
On-market gives you volume and speed; off-market gives you exclusivity and better terms. Run both and your pipeline never depends on whatever happened to get listed this week. Start with the Waterfall for on-market coverage, then layer in Owner Sourcing for the deals nobody else sees.
A pipeline built on one source is a pipeline at the mercy of whatever got listed. Covering on-market and off-market together is what keeps deals flowing — and what gets you to the good ones first.
Fresh listings get the most attention in their first 48 hours. The Waterfall surfaces fitting deals the morning they post — so you reach out while the broker still has bandwidth.
The deals with no competition are the ones nobody listed. Owner Sourcing and Direct Mail let you reach those owners directly — no auction, no LOI race.
Both pools, one filter. Your Buy Box — industry, geography, price, cash flow — keeps every feed and every target list pointed only at deals worth your time.
In two places. On-market deals live on the major online marketplaces and on individual business-broker sites — easy to browse, but heavily competed for. The larger pool is off-market: owners who would sell to the right buyer but have never listed. The most complete approach is to cover both, which is what DealStratum does — the Waterfall aggregates on-market listings into one deduped feed, and Owner Sourcing plus Direct Mail reach the owners who never list.
It depends entirely on the size and cash flow of the business, but marketplace data gives a useful anchor: the median small business that sold went for about $350,000, at roughly 2.6× its cash flow (SDE) (BizBuySell Insight Report). Smaller owner-operated businesses can trade for well under six figures; lower-middle-market deals run into the millions. Your buy box — the price and cash-flow range you will actually pursue — is what narrows it down. DealStratum does not value businesses or give financial advice; it helps you find and reach the ones that fit.
Most small businesses are priced on a multiple of SDE (seller’s discretionary earnings) — the owner’s full economic benefit from the business. Multiply annual SDE by a typical multiple for the industry and size; marketplace data clusters small main-street deals around 2–3× SDE, with larger or faster-growing businesses commanding more — then add saleable inventory and equipment and subtract any debt you assume. The asking price is just the seller’s opening number; what it’s worth to you depends on your financing, your plans, and what the books show in diligence. DealStratum doesn’t appraise businesses or give financial advice — its free Business Valuation Tool gives a data-grounded range to sanity-check a deal.
Most buyers stack several sources rather than paying all cash. The SBA 7(a) loan is the workhorse for acquisitions — it can fund up to $5M, often with around 10% down on a qualifying deal. Seller financing, where the owner carries a note for part of the price, is common and signals the seller’s confidence in the business. Buyers also use personal capital, investor equity (search-fund or independent-sponsor style), and retirement rollovers. “No money down” deals exist, but usually mean the gap is bridged with seller notes and earnouts — not literally zero capital. DealStratum doesn’t lend or give financial advice; it helps you find and reach a business worth financing.
On-market means the business is publicly listed for sale — on a marketplace or a broker’s site — so every buyer can see it and competition is high. Off-market means the owner has not listed at all; you find these deals by reaching owners directly. Off-market deals are slower to develop but face little or no competition, which often means better terms. Covering both is how serious buyers keep their pipeline full.
There’s no single best — the right business is the one that fits your buy box: an industry you can actually run, a size you can finance, and cash flow that survives the debt payments. Buyers chasing durable cash flow tend to favor essential, recession-resistant categories — home-services trades like HVAC, plumbing, and electrical; laundromats and car washes; and other businesses people need in any economy. The industry directory above shows the live listing count and median price for all 38 categories we track, so you can see where the deals and the multiples actually are. Let the data point you, not a hot tip.
Before you sign, verify the numbers and the risk. Confirm the financials against tax returns and bank statements rather than a seller’s spreadsheet, understand why the owner is really selling, check how concentrated revenue is among a few customers, confirm that any lease or license actually transfers, and gauge how dependent the business is on the owner personally. Ask for three years of P&Ls, the add-back schedule behind SDE, and a list of key employees and contracts. Diligence is where a good price becomes a good deal — and it stays with you and your accountant and attorney, not DealStratum.
They’re different risk profiles, not a clean better-or-worse. Buying gives you existing revenue, customers, and cash flow from day one rather than building from zero. Roughly half of new businesses are still operating after five years (BLS Business Employment Dynamics), and SBA loans used to buy an existing business tend to default at a lower rate than loans to start one (SBA loan-default analysis) — you’re stepping into something already proven. The trade-off is upfront capital and the work of finding the right business. DealStratum helps with the finding; it does not lend, broker, or advise on the deal itself.
No. DealStratum is a buyer-first sourcing platform. It aggregates on-market listings into one feed, helps you reach off-market owners through Owner Sourcing and Direct Mail, and gives you market reports to ground your search. It does not broker deals, value businesses, lend, run due diligence, or give financial or legal advice — that stays with you and your advisors.
One deduped feed for the listings everyone can see, plus the tools to reach the owners who never list. See how DealStratum brings both pools into one buyer-first workflow.