Business & Small Biz Calculators

A single dashboard to check if your small business idea, pricing, and cash flow make sense before you spend real money.

Business Health Snapshot

Enter a few key numbers and instantly see your break-even point, profit margin, and monthly cash runway. This is not a generic article – it’s a working mini-model you can tweak in seconds.

1. Basic assumptions

Average price per unit / customer ($)

Variable cost per unit ($)

Total fixed costs per month ($)

Expected units / customers per month

Starting cash available ($)

2. Snapshot results

Break-even point

– units / customers per month
– in monthly revenue

At your expected volume

Monthly revenue: –
Monthly profit: –
Profit margin: –

Cash runway

Estimated runway: –
(Based on starting cash and monthly profit / loss)

Try quick scenarios

Deep-dive business calculators on CalcDomain

Once your snapshot looks promising, you can refine your plan with specialized tools:

Break Even Calculator – model multiple products and price points.
Cash Flow Projection – month‑by‑month inflows and outflows.
Salary to Hourly – convert offers and contractor rates.
Business Valuation – estimate value using income and market multiples.
Bonus Gross Up – figure out pre‑tax amounts to hit a net bonus target.

How the Business Health Snapshot works

The snapshot combines three classic small‑business questions into one view:

How many customers do I need to break even?
How profitable is my pricing at the volume I expect?
How long will my cash last if things go as planned (or worse)?

1. Break-even point

Break-even is the sales level where your total revenue equals your total costs (no profit, no loss).

Contribution margin per unit
$ \text{CM} = \text{Price per unit} - \text{Variable cost per unit} $

Break-even units
$ \text{Break-even units} = \dfrac{\text{Fixed costs}}{\text{CM}} $

Break-even revenue
$ \text{Break-even revenue} = \text{Break-even units} \times \text{Price per unit} $

If your expected monthly units are far below the break-even units, you either need to:

Raise prices,
Reduce variable or fixed costs, or
Re‑think the business model.

2. Profit at your expected volume

Once you enter your expected units or customers per month, the tool estimates:

Revenue = price × units
Total variable cost = variable cost × units
Profit = revenue − variable costs − fixed costs
Profit margin = profit ÷ revenue

3. Cash runway

Cash runway is how many months you can operate before running out of cash, given your current burn or profit.

Monthly net cash flow (simplified)
$ \text{Net cash} \approx \text{Monthly profit} $

Runway (months)
If profit > 0: runway is effectively “growing” – cash increases each month.
If profit < 0: $ \text{Runway} = \dfrac{\text{Starting cash}}{|\text{Monthly profit}|} $

This is a simplified view that assumes no loan repayments, taxes, or one‑off investments, but it’s enough to sanity‑check a plan.

Using this page alongside official resources

Government and institutional sites like the SBA, IRS, and chambers of commerce provide detailed rules, forms, and compliance guidance. This page focuses on the numbers founders actually tweak every day:

“Can I afford this hire?” → use salary, bonus gross‑up, and cash‑flow tools.
“Is this product worth launching?” → use break‑even and profit margin tools.
“What is my business worth?” → use valuation and ROI calculators.

Common mistakes new small businesses make with the numbers

Ignoring owner salary. Treat your own time as a real cost, not “free labor”.
Underestimating fixed costs. Include software, insurance, marketing, and professional fees.
Overestimating early sales volume. It usually takes longer to acquire customers than expected.
Not modeling worst‑case scenarios. Re‑run the snapshot with 50–70% of your target volume.

Next steps

After you’re comfortable with your snapshot:

Build a simple monthly cash‑flow forecast using the Cash Flow Projection tool.
Test different pricing strategies with the Markup and Profit Margin calculators.
Estimate your business value and investor returns using the Business Valuation and Project ROI tools.

Business & Small Biz FAQ

What is considered a “small business”?

Definitions vary by country and industry. In the U.S., the SBA often defines small businesses by employee count (for example, under 500 employees in many sectors) or by annual revenue. For planning purposes, most owner‑managed businesses with limited staff and local or niche markets can treat themselves as small businesses.

How accurate are these calculators for real-world decisions?

The snapshot and related tools use standard finance formulas and are accurate given the numbers you provide. The biggest source of error is usually optimistic assumptions about sales and costs. Always test conservative scenarios (lower sales, higher costs) before committing money or signing contracts.

Do I still need an accountant or advisor?

Yes. These tools help you understand your numbers and prepare smarter questions, but they do not replace professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Use them to explore options, then review your plan with a qualified advisor.

How often should I update my assumptions?

Early‑stage businesses should revisit their assumptions monthly or whenever something material changes (new hire, price change, major contract, or cost increase). Mature businesses might update quarterly or annually.