The better AI becomes, the more you should think of your small business not as a side hustle — but as a company with an EBITDA multiple.In the traditional business world, companies aren’t valued by how hard their owners work. They’re valued by their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — or EBITDA. Investors then apply a multiple to that number to estimate the company’s total worth.
A company earning $100,000 a year in profit with a 5× multiple is worth half a million dollars. With a 10× multiple, it’s worth a million. The point is that every dollar of profit you build into your business’s structure multiplies its long-term value — especially when the business can run efficiently and scale independently.
And that’s exactly what advanced AI makes possible.
AI has removed much of the need for large teams or expensive infrastructure. You can now run lean, automate intelligently, and produce consistent profit with minimal overhead. That means your EBITDA margins can be unusually high — and your valuation, if someone were to acquire your business, can rival that of much larger companies.Once you understand this, the logic shifts completely:
Working for little or no pay in the early stages of your business isn’t a waste of time — it’s equity-building. Every system you automate, every customer relationship you solidify, every process you stabilize increases the multiple that your company could one day command.You’re not just earning income; you’re compounding enterprise value.AI doesn’t just let you make more money — it lets you build more valuable companies. So when times feel slow, when the profits aren’t yet flowing, remember: you’re quietly increasing your future multiple.Because in this new era, patience isn’t just a virtue — it’s how you turn one man’s business into a million-dollar asset.
