An asking price is a marketing decision as much as a valuation one: set it too high and the listing goes stale in public, set it too low and you invite renegotiation from buyers who assume something must be wrong with it.
Set it from evidence you can hand over
Whatever multiple you apply, the earnings figure has to be one a buyer's accountant can reconcile from bank statements and tax returns. Add-backs you cannot document are not add-backs, they are a price cut waiting to happen in diligence. This is the whole reason preparation raises prices: it is not presentation, it is evidence.
What a stale listing costs
Buyers watch listings. A business that has been on the market for months at an unchanged price reads as one nobody wanted, and the offers that eventually arrive reflect that. It is usually better to price defensibly at the start than to start high and cut, because the cut is public.
Structure moves the number as much as the price does
A buyer will often pay more when part of it is deferred through seller financing or an earnout. That is a real premium and it is also real risk, because the deferred part depends on a business you no longer control. Compare offers on what you are likely to actually receive rather than the headline.
Questions people ask about how much should i sell my business for
Should I publish an asking price?
In most online listings, yes: it filters out buyers in the wrong bracket. Some advisers run larger deals without one to let the market set it, which works when there are enough buyers to create competition.
How much does the price affect the tax I pay?
The allocation of the price across asset classes affects it as much as the total does, and both sides report the same split to the IRS. That is a conversation for your accountant before the purchase agreement is written.
Should I price high and expect to negotiate?
It usually costs more than it makes. Buyers watch listings, a stale one reads as a business nobody wanted, and the public price cut invites the renegotiation you were trying to avoid.