As I look at deals I typically only consider SDE since the businesses I am looking at are main street businesses with a SDE less than 2 million. I have noticed that some brokers insist on discussing the business in terms of EBITDA which I would be fine with except they always use unreasonably low owner salaries. I usually avoid this discussion by just focusing on SDE but I recently came across a business with a broker who only wants to talk in terms of EBITDA. When I pointed out that the owner salary was half what it should be the broker's response was quite poor.
What owner compensation and benefits are other searchers expecting? Is there a number other searchers are always using for their personal calculations?
Unreasonably Low Owner Salary for EBITDA and Searcher Expectations
by a searcher from Duke University
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