How Much Is My Med Spa Worth? A 5-Minute Valuation Framework
The 5-minute framework every med spa owner should know before signing a lease renewal, hiring a broker, or talking to a buyer. Adjusted EBITDA, defensible multiples, and the drivers that move your number.
Why owners need a number
Every med spa owner, at some point, asks the same question: what is my practice actually worth? Most owners answer it wrong. They multiply revenue by an arbitrary number they heard at a conference. They compare themselves to a friend's spa that sold at a specific multiple. They price themselves out of the market or, more commonly, way below what a real buyer would pay.
A real valuation isn't magic. It's a defensible range built from three inputs. Here's how to estimate yours in five minutes.
Input 1: Adjusted EBITDA
Start with your last twelve months of P&L. Find earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Now add back:
- Personal expenses run through the business (car, phone, meals)
- Owner salary above what a market-rate manager would earn
- One-time costs (COVID PPE, tenant improvements you already paid for)
- Family members on payroll who aren't tied to a real role
Now subtract:
- A market-rate replacement provider cost, if you're the highest-billing provider
- Any deferred equipment maintenance
The result is your adjusted EBITDA. This is the number buyers care about, and it's often 30-60% higher than the raw EBITDA on your tax return.
Input 2: Your multiple
Not every spa trades at the same multiple. Rough ranges we see today:
| Profile | Multiple range |
|---|---|
| Solo-provider, weak retention | 3x to 4x |
| Solo-provider, membership program in place | 4x to 5.5x |
| Two to three providers, clean books | 5x to 6.5x |
| Multi-provider platform, ready to scale | 6.5x to 8x |
| Multi-unit platform with standardized ops | 8x to 11x+ |
Where you land depends on:
- Provider concentration (how much revenue walks out with one injector)
- Recurring revenue percentage
- 12-month patient retention
- Adjusted EBITDA margin
- Lease term and rent-to-revenue ratio
Input 3: The multiplication
Multiply adjusted EBITDA by your low-end and high-end multiples. That is your defensible range.
Example: A solo-provider spa with $350K adjusted EBITDA and a membership program that generates 25% of revenue. Multiple range: 4.5x to 5.5x.
Value range: $1.575M to $1.925M.
What the range means
The range isn't a promise. It's a starting point. Buyers price on specific deal factors:
- Above the range: Multi-year clinical staffing lock-ins, unusually strong retention curves, differentiated brand.
- Below the range: Concentration, deferred capex, weak lease.
Owners who know their range make better decisions about renewing the lease, hiring, buying equipment, and starting a sale process. Owners who don't know are guessing.
Common mistakes owners make
Mistake 1: Using revenue instead of EBITDA. A revenue multiple looks bigger but has no relationship to what buyers actually pay.
Mistake 2: Not normalizing owner comp. If you pay yourself $50K but a market-rate manager would cost $120K, buyers add that $70K back. It matters.
Mistake 3: Ignoring service mix. A spa doing 90% injectables at $1M is a very different business than one doing 50% memberships at $1M. Buyers price them differently.
When to get a real valuation
The five-minute framework gives you an estimate. It's directional. A real valuation goes deeper: it normalizes your P&L line by line, checks your service mix against industry benchmarks, and gives you a specific list of drivers to strengthen before selling.
If you are within twelve months of a potential sale, get a real number. If you are just curious about where you stand, the framework above is enough to know if you're in the right ballpark.