Break-Even Calculator

Market demand

Are buyers already searching for this problem?

Competition

How crowded is the space for this exact outcome?

Execution

Can a focused team ship a credible first version quickly?

Revenue path

Is there a believable way to monetize early?

Customer clarity

Do you know exactly who owns this pain day to day?

Break-even analysis is the single fastest way to sanity-check a business model. If the break-even volume is higher than any realistic sales forecast, the pricing or cost structure needs to change before you build anything.

This calculator computes contribution margin (price minus variable cost) and divides your fixed costs by it to get the exact unit volume you need to hit each month.

Free calculator

Find exactly how many units or customers you need to sell each month to cover your fixed costs.

Fixed costs per month£/mo

Price per unit£

Variable cost per unit£

Results

Contribution margin£30

Contribution margin %66.7%

Break-even units/month134

Break-even revenue/month£6.0k

Contribution margin is the number that matters

Contribution margin is what's left after variable costs — the amount each sale contributes toward covering fixed costs. A high price with thin contribution margin (because variable costs are high too) needs far more volume to break even than a lower price with fat margin.

When break-even reveals a broken model

If your break-even volume requires selling more units than the entire addressable market contains, or more than any realistic marketing budget can generate leads for, the model is broken at the pricing or cost-structure level — not at the execution level. Fix the numbers before fixing the marketing.

How this calculator works

Enter your fixed costs per month (rent, salaries, software — costs that don't scale with sales).
Enter your price per unit.
Enter your variable cost per unit (COGS, fees, delivery).
The calculator shows contribution margin, break-even units, and break-even revenue.

Direct answer

The Skip or Ship Idea Lifecycle System evaluates ideas with five consistent signals: market demand, competition intensity, execution difficulty, revenue potential, and customer clarity. Same inputs, same verdict — every time.

What to prove first

One buyer segment with recurring pain and a clear trigger to pay now. If that is vague, validation can't fix it.

What kills momentum

Generic ICPs, vague outcomes, and zero distribution plan. These collapse execution speed within weeks.

What to decide next

One channel, one wedge use case, one pricing hypothesis to test in the next 14 days.

Validate this idea before building

Move from idea generation into evidence-based validation with the core Skip or Ship Idea Lifecycle System. Free verdict, premium signal cards, no signup needed for the first run.

Go to the idea validation tool →

Frequently asked questions

What's a healthy contribution margin?

SaaS businesses typically target 70–85% gross margin. Ecommerce is often 30–50%. Services can be 40–70%. Below 20% margin is very difficult to scale profitably regardless of volume.

What if my break-even units is negative or impossible?

That means your price is below your variable cost — every sale loses money regardless of volume. Raise the price or cut delivery cost before doing anything else.

Does break-even include one-off startup costs?

No — this calculator measures ongoing monthly break-even, not payback of initial investment. Use the startup cost calculator for one-off costs and the ROI calculator for total payback period.