Health Food Store Break-Even Analysis: $24K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $12.0K/mo Launch fixed base

Contribution margin 81% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $14.8K/mo Monthly target

Break-even timing Month 25 Model payback point

Break-even calculator

Use this calculator to test how monthly sales, product costs, and overhead shape break-even for a health food store.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue sets the pool that can cover product costs and overhead. $ Low sales Busy store Variable expenses These are direct costs that rise when sales rise, like inventory, freight, processing, and marketing. $ Tighter costs Higher costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $26,500 $32,400 revenue - $5,900 variable expenses

Margin ratio

82%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead the store must cover before profit starts. $ Lean overhead Higher payroll

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales for this health food store?

Cost classification

Your break-even date depends on separating stable monthly overhead from costs that rise with sales. In this model, fixed rent and payroll set the hurdle, while inventory, freight, card fees, and marketing move with revenue.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Commercial Lease Rent	Fixed	Carry $5,000 per month from Month 1 through Month 60 in the fixed overhead base.	Modeling rent as a sales percentage, which hides the real break-even hurdle.
Store Manager payroll	Fixed	Carry $5,000 per month, based on the $60,000 annual salary and 1.0 FTE each year.	Leaving core management payroll below the break-even line.
Nutrition Expert and added staff	Semi-fixed	Add payroll in steps as FTE rises by year, not one dollar at a time with each sale.	Smoothing staffing as a variable percentage of revenue.
Utilities	Fixed	Use $800 per month in this model because no usage-linked utility driver is supplied.	Adding a separate usage formula without data support.
Wholesale Inventory Cost	Variable	Apply 12.0% of revenue in the first year, declining to 10.0% by the fifth year.	Treating inventory as fixed, which overstates margin at low sales volume.
Inbound Freight	Variable	Apply 1.5% of revenue in the first year, declining to 1.0% by the fifth year.	Ignoring freight until cash is short after replenishment orders.
Payment Processing Fees	Variable	Apply 2.5% of revenue in the first year, declining to 2.0% by the fifth year.	Using gross sales as contribution before card fees.
Marketing Campaign Costs	Variable	Apply 3.0% of revenue in the first year, declining to 2.5% by the fifth year.	Adding a separate shrink line without support; model shrink only as extra variable pressure if supplied.

How does break-even change across lean, base, and full store formats?

Scenario table

Lean and base formats stay tight because traffic and basket size are smaller, so rent and payroll eat more margin. By Year 3, higher visits and better conversion lift EBITDA from -$155k and -$66k to $615k; the break-even signal lands in Month 25.

Planning view only; these scenario figures are assumptions, not guarantees.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean health food store format	$21.3k	$4.0k	$19.7k	81.0%	-$2.5k	Still below break-even, so small traffic drops matter.
Base health food store format	$32.4k	$5.9k	$22.1k	81.8%	$4.4k	Near break-even, but overhead still leaves little room for a traffic dip.
Full health food store format	$64.3k	$11.2k	$24.5k	82.6%	$28.6k	Best cushion of the three, and it supports the Month 25 break-even signal.

What breaks this health food store’s break-even plan?

Stress test

Year 1 break-even is about $243k on $197k fixed costs and an 81% contribution margin. A 10% sales miss opens a roughly $24k gap, and a 5-point margin squeeze or 10% fixed-cost jump lifts break-even to about $259k to $268k.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$243k	$0 gap	Break-even only holds if sales hit target.
Revenue shortfall	Sales land 10% below the break-even target.	$243k	$24k gap	A small miss pushes the store back into loss.
Fixed-cost increase	Fixed costs rise 10% to about $217k a year.	$268k	$25k gap	Rent and payroll creep eat the cushion fast.
Margin pressure	Contribution margin drops 5 points to 76%.	$259k	$16k gap	Wholesale plus freight above 13.5% raises break-even fast.
Combined pressure	Fixed costs rise 10% and margin drops 5 points.	$285k	$42k gap	Higher rent, payroll, and shrink can break the plan.

Can this health food store support break-even before you lock in the lease and opening spend?

Founder checklist

Verify that Year 1 traffic, basket size, and staffing can cover the lease before you sign the store commitment. The model only works if about 114 daily visitors, a $41.52 average order value, and the current cost stack hold through Month 25.

1Traffic Base114/day

Verify Year 1 traffic averages about 114 visitors a day, because that footfall has to turn 15.0% conversion into steady buyer volume.

2Lease Load$5.0K/mo

Pressure-test the $5,000 monthly rent against $7,000 of other fixed costs and about $12.7K of Year 1 monthly payroll, because the lease only works if traffic covers that stack.

3Margin Stack81% CM

Verify the mix still holds an 81% contribution margin after 12.0% wholesale, 1.5% inbound freight, 2.5% payment fees, and 3.0% marketing, because that margin funds the fixed load.

4Staff Ramp3.5 FTE

Check that 3.5 FTE in Year 1 can cover the Saturday and Sunday spikes, since 180 Saturday visitors and 150 Sunday visitors can strain service if staffing is thin.

5Cash Cushion$555K

Keep at least $555K of cash lined up, because the model bottoms out in Month 25 and the $125K opening capex still has to be funded before break-even arrives.

6Basket Value$41.52 AOV

Verify the $41.52 average order value from 3 units per order, because low basket size would leave traffic alone unable to support break-even.