When it comes down to it the value of your consulting firm is whatever any one particular buyer is willing to pay. We can take into account the market conditions, the robustness of your business in terms of past performance and future risk etc. but the deal you ultimately get will be dependent upon how hungry a buyer is to snap you up. We call this the 'synergy value' and it can double your price. This is usually a lot of cash!

Synergy value between buyer and seller is really important, so if your firm...

is in clients that a buyer absolutely wants to get into
has core skills that he desperately wants to have in his company
is in a market that’s growing like topsy

...then there's a good strategic fit and the chances are he'll pay a premium. So it makes a lot of sense to create a strong prospective shorlist of buyers who have the needs for which your firm can provide a solution.