How much should a website be making when you sell it? This was a question I received for one of my Prosperly followers.
The answer to this question is a resounding YES. I know, I know, that doesn’t make any sense. In reality I have no idea what the answer to the question is. I guess a good way to figure it out is to ask yourself how much you want to sell it for.
Let’s say you want to sell your website for $100,000. Then I would say you need to be making at least $100,000 from the website in a 12-24 months or in other words $4k-$8k a month. And I’m talking about net profit here not gross revenues.
I know that is a big range but it really depends on how many months multiple you can get a buyer to pay you for the site. I have sold sites at multiples ranging from 12 months to 7 years and everything in between (the latter was a rare exception).
Now if you go to one of the website marketplaces you can expect about a 12 month multiple. If you use a private buyer it depends on that buyer.
If you want a hard figure that you can count on then just estimate low and base the number off of a 12 month multiple and then when you go to sell really try to get at least 18 months.
I know that I am not giving you a clear cut answer but that is because their is no clear answer. Every website sale you ever participate in will be completely unique.
