Pest Control Business Valuation — What Is Your Company Worth?

▲ Premium Drivers

▼ Discount Drivers

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Step 1: Calculate Your SDE

Start with your net income (Schedule C or K-1). Add back: your owner compensation (W-2 + distributions), depreciation and amortization, one-time expenses that won't recur (truck purchase, legal settlement, equipment writeoff), and any personal expenses run through the business (phone, auto, insurance not required for operations). This gives you Adjusted SDE.

Step 2: Determine Your Base Multiple

The base multiple for a pest control business is driven primarily by your service mix. A business with 60% general pest, 20% termite renewals, and 20% commercial starts at approximately 4.2x SDE. A termite-renewal-only book starts at 5.5x. The mix is weighted by revenue contribution.

Step 3: Apply Adjustments

Add or subtract based on the quality factors above. A business with 85% recurring, <12% attrition, an ops manager, and $3M revenue can command +2.0x above the base. A business with 55% recurring, 28% attrition, and an owner working 65 hours per week may be discounted 1.5x–2.0x below the base.

Step 4: Cross-Check with Per-Account and EBITDA

A professional broker validates the SDE result against: (1) per-account value — multiply your residential recurring account count by $400–550, add commercial accounts at $1,500–2,500 each, and (2) EBITDA multiple — normalize owner comp to a market-rate manager salary and apply 5x–8x to the resulting EBITDA. If all three methods land in a similar range, the valuation is solid.

Step 5: Strategic Premium for Large Deals

For businesses with $3M+ revenue or high PE score (dense territory, management team, strong recurring), strategic buyers may pay 10%–20% above the blended valuation midpoint. This premium reflects the scarcity of quality pest control platform acquisitions relative to PE capital chasing the sector.