How much is my business worth in NZ?
A flagship plain-English guide for NZ owners asking how much their small business could be worth.
What this guide covers
A small-business value estimate starts with maintainable earnings, assets, debt and transferability risk. In New Zealand, owners should treat the first number as a planning range, then check cash flow, gross profit, customer quality, owner reliance, systems and records before making sale or finance decisions.
The steps
Start with maintainable earnings, not one unusually good or bad month.
Separate transferable assets from debt, stock pressure and working-capital needs.
Check gross profit, wages and EBITDA against industry context.
Look for customer concentration, repeat revenue and referral quality.
Score owner dependence, systems, staff continuity and handover risk.
Turn the first estimate into actions for cash, margin, evidence and transferability.
Can I value my business from revenue?
Revenue helps show scale, but it does not prove value. Buyers and lenders care more about sustainable profit, cash quality, repeat customers, risk and whether the business can keep working after the owner steps back.
What is a planning valuation useful for?
It helps owners understand the range, identify weak evidence and choose the next improvement priority before paying for formal advice.
When do I need a formal valuation?
Use a qualified professional for tax, legal, dispute, lending, shareholder, estate or binding sale decisions. Merit Mana is a planning aid.