Business valuations on the Sunshine Coast
We value Sunshine Coast businesses across hospitality and tourism, health, construction, professional services and food production — a market where seasonality and lease term decide more valuations than earnings do.
The Coast has grown from a holiday economy into a genuinely diversified one, with a health and education precinct at Kawana and Sippy Downs and a substantial professional base at Maroochydore. But hospitality and tourism still set the tone, and both bring the same two questions: how seasonal are the earnings, and how long is the lease.
The local business base
A holiday economy that grew a second half
Maroochydore is now the Coast’s commercial centre, with a purpose-built CBD drawing professional services, finance and corporate offices. Kawana carries the health precinct around the university hospital, Sippy Downs the education and technology cluster, and the industrial estates at Kunda Park and Coolum the trades, manufacturing and construction base. Noosa remains a distinct high-value hospitality and retail market with its own dynamics.
For valuation, the Coast splits cleanly. Health, professional services and construction behave much as they do in Brisbane. Hospitality, tourism and coastal retail behave differently: earnings are seasonal, wage ratios move with the calendar, and the value of the business is frequently indistinguishable from the value of the lease.
Business centres we work across
- Maroochydore
- Caloundra
- Noosa Heads
- Mooloolaba
- Kawana Waters
- Sippy Downs
- Kunda Park
- Coolum Beach
- Nambour
- Buderim
- Peregian
- Beerwah
What we are most often asked to value here
- Cafés, restaurants and licensed venues along the coastal strip
- Accommodation, tourism and short-stay management businesses
- Medical, dental and allied health practices around Kawana and Buderim
- Building, civil and trade services businesses across the hinterland
- Professional practices and agencies in the Maroochydore CBD
The numbers
Multiples for the main sectors in the Sunshine Coast
Indicative EBITDA multiples for the sectors that dominate this area. Ranges are national; the local note explains what tends to move a the Sunshine Coast business within its band.
Scroll the table sideways →
| Sector | Multiple | Local note |
|---|---|---|
| Hospitality & retail | 1.8×–3.0× | Seasonality and lease term dominate; peak-season figures are not maintainable earnings |
| Healthcare & medical | 3.0×–5.0× | Kawana precinct growth supports demand; practitioner retention sets the band |
| Construction | 2.0×–3.5× | Residential exposure is higher here than in Brisbane; order book matters more |
| Trades & services | 2.0×–3.5× | Recurring maintenance and body corporate panels lift the multiple |
| Professional services | 2.5×–4.0× | A younger CBD means shallower fee-earner depth in many firms |
| Manufacturing | 3.0×–4.5× | Food production and marine fabrication need an evidenced plant schedule |
Orientation only, not a valuation. See all fourteen sectors or run the value range calculator.
Local factors
What is specific about valuing a Sunshine Coast business
Seasonality is not a footnote
A venue that earns half its annual profit in twelve weeks is a different risk from one earning evenly. We look at earnings by month across multiple years rather than annual totals, because a buyer funds twelve months of costs from a compressed earnings window.
The lease frequently is the business
In coastal hospitality and retail, a prime site with term remaining is most of what a buyer is purchasing. Under three years without options caps the price regardless of trading, and landlord consent to assignment is checked before anything else.
Tourism cycles cut both ways
Strong post-pandemic domestic tourism years flatter a three-year average in some businesses and a weak international recovery depresses it in others. The maintainable earnings period is chosen and justified rather than defaulted to three years.
Working with us from the Sunshine Coast
How an engagement in the Sunshine Coast runs
The Sunshine Coast is about ninety minutes from our Edward Street office, so attendance is planned rather than same-day. For hospitality, retail and manufacturing engagements we schedule one visit covering the site, the fit-out, the plant and the stock together.
Our valuation office is at 4/144 Edward Street, Brisbane City. We do not maintain a shopfront in every location we serve — a valuation is not a service that benefits from one, and pretending otherwise would be the first thing an opposing expert questioned.
Book a free scoping call →- Free scoping call Fifteen minutes to establish the purpose, the standard of value, the entities involved and your deadline. You get a fixed fee in writing the same day.
- Records sent electronically Financial statements, tax returns, management accounts, the asset register and contracts. One consolidated request, not a drip feed.
- Site attendance where it matters The Sunshine Coast is visited by arrangement, with site, fit-out, plant and stock inspected in a single scheduled visit. Travel is built into the fixed fee.
- Report and debrief The signed valuation, then a call to walk through the conclusion, the assumptions, and what would change the number.
Local questions
Valuing a business in the Sunshine Coast
General questions on cost, timing and documents are on the full FAQ page.
Ask a valuerYes. The Coast is about ninety minutes from our Brisbane office and we attend by arrangement, scheduling the site, fit-out, plant and stock inspection into one visit. Travel is included in the fixed fee quoted before we start.
By examining earnings month by month across several years rather than relying on annual totals, and by testing whether the cost base is genuinely variable across the season. A business that earns most of its profit in a twelve-week window carries more risk than the annual figure suggests, and the multiple reflects that.
Considerably. With under three years remaining and no options, the earnings stream a buyer is purchasing is short, so value compresses toward the depreciated market value of the fit-out and equipment. Where the landlord will grant a new term before settlement, that changes the answer materially — it is worth negotiating before you list.
Yes. Management rights, letting pools and short-stay operations are valued on earnings with careful attention to agreement terms, remaining term, the body corporate relationship and how much of the letting pool is contracted rather than at-will.
The sector bands are national. What differs is where a Coast business sits within its band: hospitality and tourism carry more seasonality and lease risk here, while health and professional services behave much as they do in Brisbane. The local note in the table above sets out the difference sector by sector.
Reviewed by a Certified Practising Valuer
Reviewed by Jarrad Khoury, Director and Head of Valuations — Registered Valuer (QLD, Not Limited), Licensed Valuer (WA, Not Limited), CPV and CBV. Published by Business Valuations Brisbane, the business valuation division of Asset Valuations Group.
Last reviewed
A Coast valuation that reads the season and the lease.
A free 15-minute scoping call, then a fixed fee in writing. No obligation, and nothing you send leaves our office.
1300 778 033