Why a single index
"Is now a good time to buy a business?" has no one-line answer, because it depends on four things at once, and they rarely move together. Rates can fall while prices rise; supply can surge while credit tightens. The Main Street Buyer Index collapses those forces into one honest number so a would-be buyer can see the direction of travel at a glance, then dig into the parts that matter to their deal.
Read it as a compass, not a trigger
A high score means the wind is at buyers' backs on average, not that any specific business is a good buy. Deal quality still decides everything. Use the deal scorer for individual deals.
The four inputs
The index is built from four sub-scores, each normalized to a 0 to 100 scale (100 = most buyer-friendly) and drawn from public data:
| Input | Weight | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financing cost | 30% | SBA 7(a) acquisition rates vs. their recent range. Lower rates raise the sub-score. | SBA / Prime [3] |
| Deal supply | 30% | Volume of businesses for sale and closed transactions vs. trailing baseline. More supply favors buyers. | BizBuySell [1] |
| Valuation | 25% | Median SDE multiples vs. their historical band. Lower multiples raise the sub-score. | IBBA · BizBuySell [1][2] |
| Credit availability | 15% | SBA 7(a) approval volume and lender appetite, proxy for how easily buyers get financed. | SBA [3] |
Weights are fixed so the score stays comparable quarter to quarter. Financing and supply carry the most weight because they most directly determine whether a regular buyer can get a deal done.
How the score is computed
The method is deliberately simple and transparent:
- Collect the latest public reading for each input (SBA rates and 7(a) volume, marketplace supply and closed-deal counts, and median multiples).
- Normalize each input to a 0 to 100 sub-score against its own trailing range, so a "60" on financing means the same thing every quarter.
- Weight and sum the four sub-scores, 30% / 30% / 25% / 15%, into one composite from 0 to 100.
- Band the result: 0 to 39 tough for buyers, 40 to 59 mixed, 60 to 100 favorable.
Formally, the composite is: Index = 0.30·Financing + 0.30·Supply + 0.25·Valuation + 0.15·Credit, each term on a 0 to 100 scale.
What today's data suggests
Directionally, three of four inputs currently lean buyer-friendly: SBA 7(a) financing is at a record volume, deal supply is elevated by boomer retirements, and multiples are steady near 2.7× SDE. The precise composite value publishes with the first quarterly reading.
How to read the bands
Launch state
This page documents the methodology ahead of the first published reading. When the index goes live, the number at the top of this page will update each quarter and we'll log the history here. Want the first reading in your inbox? Grab the State of SMB Acquisition Report release list, the index ships alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
A single 0 to 100 score summarizing how favorable current conditions are for buying a small business. Higher is more buyer-friendly. It blends financing cost, deal supply, valuation multiples, and credit availability.
Each of four inputs is normalized to a 0 to 100 sub-score, then combined with fixed weights, financing 30%, supply 30%, valuation 25%, credit 15%, into one composite. Inputs come from public SBA, BizBuySell, and IBBA Market Pulse data.
Quarterly, as new SBA activity data and marketplace and broker reports are released. Each reading is logged so you can see the trend.
Sources
- [1] Supply & prices: BizBuySell Insight Report, listings, closed transactions, and median prices (2026).
- [2] Valuation multiples: IBBA & M&A Source Market Pulse, Q1 2026, reported via PR Newswire.
- [3] Financing & credit: SBA 7(a) & 504 Activity Reports, FY2025 (rates and volume).
