Foundations
Break-even math: how many orders until profit
Profit starts at the order where your per-order contribution finally covers monthly fixed costs. Break-even math gives you that exact order count and what moves it.
Revenue feels like progress, but you're not a business until your contribution per order (price minus variable cost) covers your monthly fixed costs. Break-even math turns that into one hard number: fixed costs divided by contribution per order = the orders you need each month before profit starts. Sort every cost into fixed or variable, find contribution, divide, then pull whichever lever (price, variable cost, fixed cost) your numbers say helps most. AI runs the arithmetic; you supply real costs, never guesses.
Profit isn't your first sale. It's the sale where the money you make per order finally covers your fixed costs.
Break-even math tells you exactly how many orders that takes, and what moves the number.
What you'll learn
- Split costs into fixed and variable
- Find your contribution per order
- Divide to get break-even orders
- Know the three levers