What 6,104 businesses for sale show
By Josh Elberg, founder of Palavir · Published · Updated
Palavir is a Michigan data and automation consultancy.
Short answer
Most listings do not state the owner's hours: only 9% of 3,928 US listings state them. None of 228 businesses that got a closer AI read could run with nobody. A typical US business asking $250,000 to under $2 million asks 2.91 years of its profit.
91%
of 3,928 US listings do not state the owner's weekly hours
0 of 228
could run with nobody; in 70, one group of tasks stays with a person
2.91 years
of profit is the typical ask for a US business priced $250,000 to under $2 million
How many listings say how long the owner works?
Very few. In the US set, 9% state it and the middle is 10 hours a week. Across all 6,104 listings (US, UK and other countries), 5,412 (89%) give no hours. Sellers choose whether to say, so the ones that do are probably the easier businesses. Ask for the hours before you ask for the price.
What do different kinds of business ask, in years of profit?
The multiple is the asking price in years of profit. Insurance agencies ask the most (3.58 years) and content and media sites the least (2.05). The middle across all US listings with a clear price and profit is 2.87 years. See multiples by industry for the detail.
- Insurance agencies3.58 years(27)
- IT and software services3.41 years(37)
- Software (SaaS)3.16 years(58)
- Marketing and web agencies3.08 years(38)
- Other local businesses3.03 years(713)
- Mobile apps3.03 years(31)
- Food and hospitality3.00 years(70)
- Trades and field service2.96 years(173)
- Property services2.80 years(49)
- Accounting and finance2.76 years(35)
- Amazon sellers2.63 years(106)
- Online agencies2.63 years(28)
- Staffing and recruiting2.48 years(31)
- Ecommerce stores2.40 years(266)
- Content and media sites2.05 years(110)
What did sold online businesses ask?
Comparable Empire Flippers businesses sold since 2024 are a separate set, shown at their listed price, not the sale price. In five of six online groups they asked a little less than the for-sale middle: Amazon sellers 2.5 (175 sold), software 2.9 (33), ecommerce stores 2.3 (38), online agencies 2.4 (15), mobile apps 2.7 (22). Content sites were the exception at 2.4 (145 sold). Sold figures are compared with listings of the same kind for sale across the whole scan (template copies and repeats left out), not with the US-only chart above.
Which jobs can software take over?
An AI model proposed 979 tasks across the 228 close reads that software could take. The chart shows how many of the 228 had at least one task of each kind. It is a proposal, not a measurement from a running business, and it leans toward online businesses. What to automate first.
- Customer and client messages68%
- Ads, marketing and social media61%
- Bookkeeping, invoicing and getting paid54%
- Orders, shipping and fulfilment40%
- Inventory and reorders27%
- Listings, catalog and product pages25%
- Scheduling, quotes and intake25%
Can any of these businesses run with nobody?
None of the 228. In 70, what stays with a person is one group of tasks, usually supplier relationships and choosing products. A few are skilled work such as teaching or legal hearings. In the other 158, more than one group of tasks stays with a person. More on owning a business without running it.
- Run with nobody0
- One group of tasks left70
- More than one group left158
What does the typical listing look like for a buyer?
Take the 949 clean US listings asking $250,000 to under $2 million. The typical one asks $600,000 and shows $200,427 of yearly profit. With an assumed loan over 10 years at 10%, the payments are about $87,883 a year. Our loan math borrows 90% of the asking price. An SBA lender counts your 10% on the whole project, so with 15% for stock, closing and working cash the cash needed is about $69,000. That leaves $112,544 before tax, or $52,544 after a $60,000 manager, our illustration. 79% of these listings stay above zero after the manager. The middle of each listing's own result ($112,350) is a little different from the result for the middle listing.
91% of them clear our rough 1.25 test (seller-stated profit at least 1.25 times the assumed loan payments). A lender's test is stricter; see SBA down payment and coverage rules.
- Yearly profit$200,427
- Loan payments (assumed)$87,883
- Left after loan$112,544
- Left after a manager$52,544
Open the savings calculator. Stock, closing costs and working cash come on top. Hours: how often owners state them is in semi-absentee businesses.
What are the patterns?
Our read of what we saw, of all 6,104 listings (US, UK and other countries). Stickiness is how likely customers are to keep buying after the owner leaves. Cheap "automated" online stores look like traps because they are already lean. The larger labor savings sit in service firms that run on paperwork.
Bookkeeping, tax and payroll practices
Sticky monthly clients, but the owner holds the relationships. Price it as if you must pay someone to replace the owner.
39 of 103 rated high stickiness; owner dependence high in 76 of 103
Amazon brands
The most sold comparables, but listed profit is often a trailing average (an average of past years), which can make a shrinking brand look cheap.
175 sold; 24 of 82 with trend data show profit falling steeply
Lean consumer ecommerce brands
Keep only brands with organic or repeat customers.
1,376 ecommerce listings; only 19 rated high stickiness
Small software bought for automation savings
Margins are already high, so there is little cost left to remove.
77% typical margin; only 20 of 211 rated high stickiness
Turnkey dropshipping stores
Owners already work a few hours a week, so there is little labor to cut.
202 listings; 0 rated high stickiness
Content sites run on AI writing
AI writing is equally cheap for every competitor, and AI search answers can take the traffic.
153 listings; only 5 rated high stickiness
What this data cannot tell you
- These are asking prices, not the prices businesses sold for.
- Profit is the seller's own figure. It often includes the owner's pay, so someone still has to do that work.
- It is a snapshot of listings from October 2026, not a survey of all businesses.
- An AI model scored each listing from its text. Scores can be wrong, and the jobs list is a proposal that leans toward online businesses.
- The 228 close reads are a sample, not a random one.
- Sellers decide what to state. Listings with ranges, implausible financials or a sold flag are left out of the buyer math.
How the study was done
- Collection. 6,104 listings from the public listing pages of nine marketplaces and brokers in the US, the UK and other countries, October 2026: logged out, only pages each site's robots.txt allows, several seconds between requests. 3,928 are in the US, 1,809 of them with a clear asking price and profit. We publish only our own counts and middles. No listing text, photos, names or links are published, and individual listings are not identified.
- Questions or removal. If you run one of these sites and want to ask how we used your listings, or want them left out of future versions, write to us through the contact page.
- Scoring. An AI model (Claude Haiku) read each listing for its recurring jobs, how much software could take, owner dependence and seller financing.
- Clean set. Repeats, ranges, sold listings, implausible financials and near-identical template listings from broker networks are removed. The model also flagged seller financing in 683 and SBA mentions in 545 listings of all 6,104 listings (US, UK and other countries).
- Close reads. 228 got a closer read by AI analysts, and every figure and quote on those pages was re-checked by software against the original listing text. No person verified them.
Questions about this study
How many hours a week does the owner of a business for sale work?
Most listings do not say. Only 9% of 3,928 US listings state the owner's hours, and the middle one says 10 hours a week. Across all 6,104 listings (US, UK and other countries), 5,412 (89%) give no hours. Sellers choose whether to state hours, so the ones that do are probably the easier businesses.
What is a normal asking price for a small business?
In the US listings with a clear price and profit, the middle listing asks $489,000 against $166,680 of yearly profit, which is 2.87 years of profit. For businesses asking $250,000 to under $2 million it is $600,000 and $200,427, or 2.91 years. These are asking prices, not sale prices.
Can a business run with no owner at all?
Among the 228 listings an AI model read closely, 0 could run with nobody. Every one had routine work software could take, and in 70 of them, what stays with a person is one group of tasks, usually supplier relationships and choosing products. A few are skilled work such as teaching or legal hearings.
Which jobs can software take over in a small business?
The AI model proposed software for customer and client messages in 68% of the 228 close reads, ads, marketing and social media in 61%, and bookkeeping, invoicing and getting paid in 54%. These are proposals, not measured savings, and they lean toward online businesses. Treat them as a guide to where to look first.
How was this study done, and can I trust the numbers?
We collected 6,104 listings in October 2026 from the public listing pages of nine marketplaces and brokers and had an AI model read each one. Repeats, ranges, sold listings, implausible financials and near-identical template listings from broker networks were removed. 228 got a closer read by AI analysts, and every figure and quote on those pages was re-checked by software against the original listing text. No person verified them. The figures are what sellers state, not audited results, and the data is a snapshot.
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Sources
Palavir Deal Scout, October 2026: 6,104 listings from nine marketplaces and brokers, scored by an AI model, 228 read closely. US buyer math uses 3,928 US listings and 949 clean US listings asking $250,000 to under $2 million. Seller-stated figures, asking prices, a snapshot. Loan terms and the $60,000 manager are Palavir assumptions. General information, not financial, legal or lending advice.