Break-even: how many sales cover the month
Zero is not “the business is profitable”. It is the volume where monthly fixed costs equal what you keep from sales. Fixed costs divided by price minus variable cost per sale.
Which row is which
Fixed: rent, salaries that do not depend on sales, accounting, subscriptions.
Variable per sale: purchase or materials, commission, delivery, packaging, ads you assign to one sale.
If nothing is left from a sale, volume will not save the month.
How not to fool the formula
- Do not hide rent in “later”.
- Do not set ads to zero if sales depend on them.
- Do not paste someone else’s footfall.
Before a purchase
See whether people search for the product
Before a site
See what people want to find
Before a market
Check interest and who is already there
Before ads
Make sure you promote the right thing
Worked example, not an industry: fixed 1 100 000 ₸, price 8 000 ₸, variable 3 200 ₸. 4 800 ₸ remains per sale. The mathematical point is about 229.17. The minimum whole sales are 230, and revenue at 230 sales is 1 840 000 ₸. This is not a café payback.
When a search snapshot helps
- The unit volume is calculated. What remains is whether people search for the offer in the city.
What you learn
What we found
The month closes at a specific number of sales.
Why it matters
Without the number it is easy to rent a place by feel.
What to do
Split the costs, get the units, check demand.
Limit
Not a café
The example is arithmetic, not an average location in Kazakhstan.
Not one tax for everyone
You type the tax. Regimes differ.
Not demand
230 whole sales in a formula do not appear by themselves.
How many sales cover the month
Formula: fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost per sale). A fraction is the mathematical point. Whole sales round up to the next unit. This is not an industry norm.
If you do not want to check this by hand, aVtonomus will show it in the analysis.
Common questions
Is this payback of the investment?
No. This is the monthly zero. Payback divides startup spend by a repeating monthly remainder.
Can this be used for production?
Yes, if variable cost is materials and shipping per unit, and the plant rent is fixed.
Check whether people search for this in the chosen city
The first data are free. A full review is 4 990 ₸.