Recurring contracts and a team that delivers without the owner separate a sellable service company from a job; for storefronts and multi-location businesses, a transferable lease matters just as much. Here's what buyers are paying, and what moves you up the range.
Businesses with over 60% contracted or recurring revenue regularly command the top of this range and beyond; project-based, one-off engagements trade toward the bottom. These are general market ranges aggregated from recent lower-middle-market M&A data (GF Data, IBBA Market Pulse, and BizBuySell-aggregated transactions) as of 2025–2026 — not a valuation or appraisal of any specific business. Actual price depends on your financials, buyer competition, deal structure, and diligence findings.
General figures reflect common commercial-lease assignment practice and SBA lender requirements as of 2025–2026, aggregated from business-brokerage and commercial real estate sources — not a legal opinion on any specific lease. Review your actual lease terms with counsel before marketing the business.
Most advisors only show up once you're ready to sell. Chetrock is different: an operator-led team that fixes what's actually suppressing your value first, then runs the sale — the same person, start to finish.
See your Value GapA 12-person agency where the founder personally ran every client relationship and 40% of revenue was one-off project work. Documenting delivery playbooks, promoting an account lead, and converting two anchor clients to annual retainers took recurring revenue from 35% to 68% in under a year — the single biggest lever on the eventual offer.Illustrative composite scenario, not a specific past client — real transaction references are available on request during a conversation.
Chetrock has not yet publicly disclosed a closed service-business transaction; this example illustrates the value-creation approach applied across engagements. Ask for verifiable references during your consultation.