The one number every business plan needs
Each sale contributes price minus variable cost toward your fixed bills; break-even is simply how many contributions the bills consume. The per-day line is the honest one — "100 units a month" sounds abstract, "about 4 every day, including slow Tuesdays" is a claim you can test against reality before signing a lease.
Reading your result
- Price is the strongest lever. Raising the example's price from $50 to $55 drops break-even from 100 to 86 units — a 10% price move cutting the target by 14%, because every extra dollar lands entirely in contribution.
- Check margin health first. If your contribution per unit is thin, break-even balloons. The margin & markup calculator shows whether your unit economics can carry the business at all.
- Break-even is the floor, not the goal. The stub's "profit at 2× break-even" line previews what scale buys you once the bills are covered.
Frequently asked
How do you calculate the break-even point?
Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ (price per unit − variable cost per unit). The bottom of that fraction is your contribution margin — what each sale contributes toward covering fixed costs.
What counts as a fixed cost vs a variable cost?
Fixed costs stay the same regardless of sales: rent, salaries, insurance, software subscriptions. Variable costs scale with each unit: materials, packaging, payment processing, shipping. Some costs are hybrids — split them as best you can.
What if my break-even number looks impossible?
That's the calculator doing its job before reality does. Your levers, in order of typical impact: raise the price, cut variable cost per unit, then cut fixed costs. Small price increases move break-even dramatically because they flow straight into contribution margin.
Does break-even include my own salary?
Only if you put it in fixed costs — and you should. A business that only breaks even while paying you nothing hasn't broken even; it's running on your donated labor.