# Lower middle market

The tier above main street, professionally run and priced on [EBITDA](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/ebitda).

Cross into it and the whole game changes: multiples step up, buyers price on EBITDA, and diligence expectations harden. The competition changes too, from first-time operators to funds and family offices with capital and analysts, so a [searcher](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/searcher) reaching this tier needs a real edge or a proprietary angle to win.

In numbers: Roughly $5M to $100M in [enterprise value](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/enterprise-value), above Main Street and below the mid-market, where M&A advisors and [independent sponsors](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/independent-sponsor) work.

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/lower-middle-market
Not dated: A definition is editorial: what a term means, why it matters, and an example. None of it reads a source that can go stale, so there is no date to take and a stamped one would be the build time wearing a costume.

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt