By Sameer Bhatia
Most people who operate their own small businesses often think about how they are going to make profits. This is understandable as that is the clear goal that will come with any kind of small business endeavour. However, it can be even more important for a business to think about how it is going to get to a break-even state.
A break-even analysis will help you figure out what you will be doing with your business and what you have to adjust in order to simply be able to make money in whatever you want to do. This analysis will help you look at the break-even point. This is the point where you will end up making enough money to where you can actually cover the expenses that you used at the start in order to actually make money.
What Goes Into the Analysis?
Several points are to be used in the break-even analysis to ensure that you will have more control over your business:
- The overhead, which refers to the monthly expenses that come with operating your business, must be calculated. This includes a look at the cost to get resources for doing business and insurance or rent charges relating to keeping the business up and running.
- The sales revenue that comes from whatever you are selling may also be figured into the process.
- Gross profits relating to what is left over from your sales after reducing the direct cost of each sale must also checked upon.
You can use these totals to get a better idea of what you need to get in order to actually break even. This is not always the easiest thing to think about but you have to be fully prepared to handle your data as required.
Calculating the Point
After these are factored, you have to take a look at the annual overhead that you have to use while then figuring out the gross profits. That is, you need to consider the profits based on not only the amount of money you made but also the money it cost for you to make sure sales. You have to compare this information based on the charges your business is bearing with so you can figure out how much money you’d have to raise in gross profits just to cover the charges you’ve got.
A Realistic Review
It is critical for all of your profits and charges to be reviewed if you want to get into any small business endeavor. You need to use the information that you find here with many points in mind:
- You have to consider the cost of the materials you’re using to run a business.
- In some cases the employees that you are hiring might get in the way because of their salaries. You can use a break-even analysis to get an idea of whether or not you need as many people to work for you as what you might think in the first place.
- The prices that you are charging for your products may also be placed into consideration. You can use these prices to figure out what you might owe and what’s important.
If you use this information the right way then it should be very easy for you to figure out what you need to send. You have to be certain as you get this ready that you understand what you’re getting out of the overall process. This can influence anything that you want to do the right way.
You must be certain that you are aware of how you can use a break-even analysis to handle whatever you are doing from a small business standpoint. You must use this to determine if there’s a potential for you to make money. Your business efforts will be easier to handle provided that you have a business plan that will be capable of breaking out and becoming more prominent.
Sameer Bhatia is founder & CEO of ProProfs, a leading provider of online learning tools for building, testing, and applying knowledge. ProProfs Knowledge Base Software is used to create highly-searchable online FAQ’s to improve customer service. It helps centralize access to organizational files, documents and how-to articles ensuring they can be accessed across multiple devices and platforms. You can find him on Google+ and Twitter.
