How Much Is My Business Worth? SME Valuation in the Baltics & CEE

Every owner asks the same first question: what is my business worth? In the CEE lower mid-market the honest answer is a range — but a defensible one, built from your normalised earnings and a sector multiple. Here is how it actually works.

1. Value starts with adjusted EBITDA

Most SMEs in the €1M–€10M range are valued on EBITDA — earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. But buyers don't pay for your reported EBITDA; they pay for adjusted (normalised) EBITDA: the real, recurring profit after removing owner-specific and one-off items.

Common adjustments include an above-market owner salary, personal costs run through the company, related-party rent, and genuine non-recurring expenses. Done properly, normalisation often raises the number a buyer works from.

2. The multiple: what buyers will pay

The multiple is how many times adjusted EBITDA a buyer pays. In CEE lower mid-market deals it commonly sits in a low-to-mid single-digit range, but it moves with:

• Sector — asset-light, recurring-revenue businesses (e.g. software, services) command more than project-based ones.
• Growth — a consistent upward trend lifts the multiple.
• Customer concentration — heavy reliance on a few clients pulls it down.
• Owner dependency — if the business needs you daily, buyers discount it.

3. What moves your price the most

Owners over-index on revenue growth. In practice, de-risking the business often adds more value: reducing customer concentration, documenting processes, and building a management layer that runs the company without you.

4. Beyond multiples: sanity checks

A credible valuation cross-checks the EBITDA multiple against comparable transactions in your sector and, where relevant, a discounted cash-flow view. The goal isn't a single magic figure — it's a range you can defend when a buyer's advisor pushes back.

FAQ

What EBITDA multiple do CEE businesses sell for?

It varies by sector, size and risk, but lower mid-market CEE deals commonly transact in a low-to-mid single-digit EBITDA range. Recurring-revenue and asset-light businesses sit higher.

Is revenue or EBITDA used to value a business?

For most SMEs, adjusted EBITDA is the primary basis. Revenue multiples are mainly used for high-growth software businesses.