These are guide ranges, not rules. Your category, stage, market and timing will move them, so use them to work out where to look, not to mark yourself pass or fail.
| Metric | Benchmark | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| $1M-$5M revenue | 2.5-4.5x (often valued on SDE) | Buyers at this size are small PE firms, individuals and aggregators. |
| $5M-$10M revenue | 3.5-6x EBITDA | The lower middle market. |
| $10M-$25M revenue | 5-9x EBITDA | The sweet spot for growth equity PE. With a single buyer and no auction, expect the bottom of the band. |
| $25M-$50M revenue | 7-11x EBITDA | Multiple strategic and PE bidders. |
| $50M-$100M revenue | 8-13x EBITDA | Premium multiples and competitive processes. |
| $100M+ revenue | 10-15x+ EBITDA | Strategic premiums in a competitive auction. |
| Growth adjustment | Under 10%: low end; 10-20%: mid-range; 20-40%: upper range; over 40%: top of range | Above 40%, buyers get sceptical about sustainability. 30%+ growth with 15%+ EBITDA margins is extremely attractive. |
| Category adjustment | Beauty +2-4x; health, supplements and pet +1-2x; apparel -1-2x | Food and beverage runs base to +1x, consumer electronics base, and home goods -1x to base. |
| Revenue multiple | 0.5-3x revenue for high-growth, pre-profit brands | Typically used for fast-growing brands with little or no EBITDA: it starts at 20% growth, and it's most common above 50%. Growing 20-40%: 0.5-1.5x; 40-60%: 1-2x; 60-100%+: 1.5-3x. Subscription revenue with 80%+ retention adds a 0.5-1x premium. |
| SDE multiple | 2.5-4.5x SDE | Seller's discretionary earnings: EBITDA plus the owner's salary, benefits and one-off expenses. Used below about $5M in revenue. |
| EBITDA needed for PE interest | $3M+ EBITDA | A rough minimum for serious PE interest. Above $5M, competitive processes with multiple bidders become more likely. |
| Strategic vs financial buyers | Usually: strategics pay the highest multiples | They typically pay the most but move slower, while financial buyers pay less but execute cleaner. A strategic trading at 14x can justify 10x for your brand because it absorbs you at its own multiple. |
| What lowers a valuation | Amazon over about 50% of revenue, any customer over about 25%, returns over about 15% (25% in apparel), founder dependence | If the business can't run without you, buyers either discount heavily or walk away. |
| Earnouts and re-trades | Typically 20-40% of consideration, tied to 1-2 year targets | Cash at close beats an earnout. Expect a re-trade too: 30-50% of deals get renegotiated down between LOI and close, typically by 5-15%. |
How to use these benchmarks
These ranges are guides, not guarantees or rules. They are drawn from The DTC Playbook and Rob Ward's experience taking Quad Lock from $0 to a $500M exit, cross-checked against widely cited DTC data. The point is not the exact number - it is whether you sit well above or below it, and what to do about the gap. Your category, stage, market and timing all move them, so judge yourself against your own trend as well.
Last reviewed: October 2026. Benchmarks are refreshed as the playbook is updated.
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