An asking price is a claim you have to defend for months, so it should come from evidence. The method is the same whatever the business: work out the earnings a buyer will actually credit, find what similar businesses sold for, and adjust for the things that make yours easier or harder to own.
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How much do I sell my business for? Start with the earnings a buyer credits
For a small business that is seller's discretionary earnings: profit plus your compensation plus documented personal expenses run through the company. For anything larger it is adjusted earnings after paying a market salary for the work you do. Every add back needs a document, because an unevidenced adjustment is removed and taints the rest.
Find evidence, not asking prices
Listings show what sellers hope for. What matters is completed transactions in your trade at your size, which brokers and advisers see and which trade associations sometimes publish. Where no evidence exists, that is information: price conservatively and let competition do the work rather than anchoring high.
How much should you sell your business for, once ownership risk is priced in?
Customer concentration, owner dependence, lease term, contract transferability and revenue that repeats or does not. These move the multiple rather than the earnings, and they are why two businesses with identical profit sell for very different numbers. Being honest about them yourself produces a defensible price; ignoring them produces a long listing.
Other questions people ask
Should I put a price on the listing?
For a small main street business, usually yes, because buyers filter by price. In a run process with several bidders, usually not, because naming a number caps the outcome.
What if I need a specific amount?
That is a personal requirement rather than a valuation, and the market does not respond to it. Knowing the gap early lets you spend a year closing it rather than a year unsold.
Do I need a formal valuation?
For tax, a dispute or a partner buyout, yes. For a market sale, evidence of comparable completed transactions usually does more.