If you went to market today, how much would you get for your business? This is a question that many business owners have no idea how to answer.

The reason for this is that selling a business is not like selling a house. Businesses are all so different. You can’t look at comparable apple for apple recent sales. They don’t exist. You need to treat every company on its merit.

This said, there are some rules of thumb you can follow to have an idea of what your business may be worth. Once you’re aware of them, you can make sure you’re doing everything you can to improve your value.