The break-even point is the revenue or unit volume where your total income equals total costs, no profit, no loss. Calculate it by dividing your total fixed costs by your gross profit margin (for revenue break-even) or by your contribution margin per unit (for unit break-even). Every small business owner should know this number before making any pricing, hiring, or expansion decision.
Break-Even Calculator for Coffee Shop
Pre-filled with real coffee shop industry benchmarks
Coffee shops live and die on volume and average ticket. A drip coffee costs $0.25 to $0.40 to make and sells for $2.50 to $4.00, which looks like incredible margins until you factor in the rent, the barista wages, and the reality that you need 200 to 400 transactions per day to pay the bills. Your fixed costs are dominated by rent (a good location is everything in coffee, and good locations are expensive), labor (baristas at $14 to $20/hour plus benefits), and equipment (espresso machines cost $10,000 to $25,000, grinders $2,000 to $5,000). Most coffee shops need $25,000 to $45,000 in monthly revenue to break even, which translates to roughly $1,000 to $1,800 per day in sales. The average transaction is $5 to $7, so you need 150 to 300+ daily customers depending on your market and price point. This calculator helps you figure out your specific daily transaction target based on your rent, labor, and average ticket.
Break-Even Calculator
Pre-filled with coffee shop industry defaults. Edit any field to use your real numbers.
Break-Even Units
72
Break-Even Revenue
$21,024
Contribution Margin
71.9%
Coffee Shop industry average margin: 72.0% gross margin with 28.0% COGS.