Local Print Newsletter - SDE 220k - 3.5x

Listing Type (?): Solid

A local print newsletter isn’t a common online business… and I would typically discredit it, but at $220,000 profit and 28 years in business my eyes perk up. And while

Asking: $790k
Cash Flow: ~$223k
Revenue: ~$402k
Multiple: ~3.5x

The good…

Real cash flow. ~$223k in annual cash flow on ~$402k revenue is solid for a media business that isn’t chasing scale-at-all-costs.

Sticky advertiser base. 40–60 advertisers per issue, many on multi-issue or annual agreements. This is relationship-driven revenue, not one-off ad sales.

Very lean ops. No full-time payroll, no inventory, no long-term leases. Editorial, design, and sales are all contractor or commission-based. Production costs under $1,500 per issue is unusually efficient.

Digital is quietly strong. ~31k monthly uniques (peaks over 50k), ~85% organic/direct traffic, and 1.7M pageviews YTD show real audience attention, not paid traffic noise.

Email actually matters. 4,500 opt-in subscribers with 35–40% open rates is very healthy for local media and creates a clean upsell path for sponsors.

High-margin upside. Sponsored digital content is already projecting $80k+ annually with minimal effort, making this the easiest place to grow profit.

The cynical side…

Local media ceiling. This will never be a venture-scale business. Growth is incremental—more sections, more advertisers, nearby towns.

Advertiser concentration risk. The listing doesn’t show how revenue is distributed across advertisers. Losing a few large accounts could matter.

Print trend exposure. Print still works here, but long-term secular trends aren’t in your favor. You’re betting on community relevance holding steady.

Sales dependency. Commission-only reps have stuck around for years, but losing one could create short-term revenue gaps.

Replication isn’t instant. Expanding to nearby towns sounds simple, but trust and relationships take time to build.

Fair but full pricing. ~3.5x cash flow is reasonable, but not cheap, for a locally dependent, lifestyle-oriented asset.

Bottom line

Strong cash flow, loyal advertisers, and low overhead. While many might say print media is dead, this business shows that it’s not. And I think a bull case could be made that print media will thrive as digital content grows and a trend continues of people looking for ‘real world’ media/experiences. The valuation at 3.5x seems on the high side of a fair. I think I would approach this with a 2.5-3x valuation and some seller note or earnout.

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