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The Starting Point: Calculating Break-Even


   

Before you can decide upon a fair price for your product, you need to know how much it's costing you. you will need to know this no matter which pricing method you use.

Once you've identified costs, you can determine your break-even point. This is the point at which you neither make nor lose money in producing a product or delivering a service. For example, you would be at the break-even point if it cost you $100 to produce a product that you sell for $100.

A break-even analysis is the process you use to uncover those break-even numbers. To begin your break-even analysis, add up all fixed costs and determine what your variable costs are at different production volumes.

  • Fixed costs, sometimes referred to as overhead, are expenses that don't vary according to production amounts - such as rent for office space (and storage space if you store inventory), office equipment (telephones, faxes, computers), insurance, and utilities.

  • Variable costs are expenses that do vary with the amount of service provided or goods produced. They include costs such as hourly pay for a contractor on a specific project, and raw materials. Some variable costs don't depend specifically on the number of products produced but are still variable, such as advertising or promotion expenses.

You must know the cost of your overhead (fixed costs) as well as the incremental cost-per-unit (variable costs) before you can determine your break-even points.

Next, substitute your figures into the break-even revenue and break-even units formulas.

 

Pricing: Introduction
The Starting Point: Calculating Break-Even
Calculating Break-Even Revenue
Calculating Break-Even Units
Pricing for Profit: Cost-Based Pricing
Pricing for Profit: Value-Based Pricing
Discounts
Sample Revenue Planning Worksheet for Consultants

 

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