Business viability calculator
proceed
- The numbers work on your assumptions. The biggest risk is whether you can actually sell this volume. Test it with real buyers before spending more.
| Revenue | R3 000 |
| Payment and platform fees | -R60 |
| Variable costs | R0 |
| Fixed costs | -R300 |
| Monthly profit | R2 640 |
| Margin | 88% |
| Break-even units a month | 2 |
| Units for your target | 14 |
| Startup payback | 0.2 months |
| Effective hourly profit | R132 |
Fees exclude VAT where providers quote ex-VAT. Profit here is business profit before tax, not take-home pay.
Who it is for
It is for anyone thinking about a side business in South Africa: baking, reselling, tutoring, a service you sell on WhatsApp, or a product on Takealot. Use it before you buy stock or equipment, again after your first month of real sales, and any time a supplier or platform raises prices.
It works for one-person businesses where you can estimate your own price, costs and hours.
How it works
You enter what one customer pays, how many sales you expect in a month, the cost of each sale, your fixed monthly costs, what it costs to get started, and the hours you put in. The calculator takes off payment or platform fees using published rates, then shows monthly profit, profit per hour, how many sales you need to break even, and how many months it takes to earn back your start-up money.
The verdict is deliberately cautious. "Proceed" means the numbers work even at a modest volume.
"Revise" means it only works if something changes: price, cost or volume. "Abandon" means it loses money or pays less per hour than you would accept.
It is a sense check before you spend. It cannot forecast what you will earn.
Worked example
Say you bake and sell cupcake boxes at R180, sell 30 a month, spend R70 per box on ingredients and packaging, pay R300 a month for data and adverts, and need R1,500 for equipment. You work 24 hours a month.
Before fees, each box leaves R110, so 30 boxes leave R3,300, minus R300 fixed costs: about R3,000 a month, or roughly R125 an hour. You would break even at 3 boxes a month and earn back the R1,500 within the first month.
If you could only sell 10 boxes, profit drops to about R800, which is the kind of change the verdict warns you about.
Tips before you rely on it
- Use the price people actually pay, not the price you hope for. Check three competitors or ask five possible customers first.
- Count every cost per sale: packaging, delivery, data, transport and the payment fee, even if each one feels small.
- Be honest about hours. Include time spent messaging customers, buying stock and travelling, not only making the product.
- Run it twice: once with your realistic sales number and once with half of it. If the low case loses money, start smaller.
Not sure what to try yet?
In about 6 minutes, the free test matches ways to earn to your skills, time, data and budget.
Questions people ask
Is this a forecast of what I will earn?
No. It is arithmetic on your own numbers. Real results depend on whether people actually buy, which is why the free test and our guides push you to test demand cheaply first.
Which fees are included?
You choose how customers pay you: cash, EFT, PayFast, Yoco or a marketplace such as Fiverr or Takealot. Each preset uses the provider's published fee, listed in the sources.
What is a good profit per hour?
Compare it with what you could earn from a part-time job or overtime. If the side business pays much less per hour and has no growth path, it may not be worth your evenings.
Should I include my own time as a cost?
Not as a cost, but the tool shows profit per hour so you can judge whether your time is well paid.
Sources (3)
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Earn Path is not a financial services provider and does not give financial advice. This tool gives estimates for your own planning.