The term Privately-Held Business refers to a business entity which is privately owned and is not publicly traded on a stock exchange. The stocks of a privately held business are neither listed on an exchange nor traded over the counter. Privately-held firms account for the bulk of business valuations engagements executed by business valuators. When valuing privately-held businesses, the first order is for business valuators to identify transactions of comparable size and similar nature, including comparable firms listed on the stock exchange. When estimating the fair market value of privately-held businesses, business valuators apply techniques under the income, market and asset methods. Typically, business valuators apply more than one method to provide support and mutually validate the findings. The final valuation conclusion is selected from the method which is most appropriate for the business valuation under consideration.