Health and Wellness E-Commerce Break-Even: $41K Monthly Sales

Fixed costs $6.0K/mo Base overhead

Contribution margin 83.5% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $7.2K/mo Sales cover overhead

Break-even timing Month 15 Model break-even

Break-even calculator

Test monthly revenue against variable expenses and fixed costs to see where this store breaks even.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the top line that pays variable costs and then helps cover fixed costs. $ Low sales High sales Variable expenses These are direct costs that rise with sales, like product cost, shipping, and payment fees. $ Lean costs Heavy costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $50,000 $60,000 revenue - $10,000 variable expenses

Margin ratio

83%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly cost base the store must cover before profit starts. $ Small base Large base

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses stay fixed, and which move with sales for this online wellness store?

Cost classification

Break-even is Month 15 in this model, but that only holds if fixed overhead stays separate from sales-linked outflows. Misclassifying shipping, payment fees, or paid acquisition will overstate contribution and understate the orders needed.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
E-commerce Platform Subscription	Fixed	Include $1,500 per month in baseline overhead from Month 1, before the first sale.	Waiting to add it until revenue starts.
CRM & Analytics Software	Fixed	Carry $500 per month as recurring operating overhead throughout the model.	Burying it inside marketing spend.
Website Maintenance & Support	Fixed	Use $800 per month as a required site operating expense.	Treating normal maintenance as traffic-driven.
Office Rent	Fixed	Include $2,000 per month until the plan shows a real need for more space.	Adding space before order volume proves it.
Product Purchase Cost	Variable	Apply 8.0% of revenue in the first year, improving to 6.0% by the mature year.	Using gross sales as contribution margin.
Fulfillment & Shipping Fees	Variable	Apply 6.0% of revenue in the first year, then 5.0% by the mature year.	Ignoring the drag from each shipped order.
Paid Marketing	Semi-variable	Model the $100,000 first-year budget and $30 CAC together; CAC falls to $20 by the mature year.	Calling the full budget fixed and missing CAC pressure.
Payroll	Semi-fixed	Step staffing from founder and marketing head to later support, operations, and junior marketing hires.	Smoothing hires evenly instead of modeling real step-ups.

How do lean, base, and full setups change break-even for this wellness store?

Scenario table

Fixed costs drive the gap here. The lean setup breaks even near $300K a month, the base case near $406K, and the full setup near $906K, so hiring and marketing timing matter more than the product mix alone.

Planning assumptions only; actual break-even will move with ad spend, product mix, and hiring timing.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean launch setup	$300K	$50K	$250K	83.3%	$0K	Lower fixed spend makes break-even easier to reach and keeps cash risk lower.
Base Year 1 operating plan	$406K	$67K	$339K	83.5%	$0K	This matches the model's Month 15 break-even, so it needs steady demand before more overhead.
Full scale team build	$906K	$133K	$773K	85.3%	$0K	Higher payroll and marketing push break-even up fast, so repeat orders have to scale with spend.

What pushes this health and wellness store below break-even?

Stress test

Year 1 only works if revenue holds near the $406,000 monthly break-even line. A sales miss, higher overhead, or worse shipping and returns can push the store under fast, and the $642,000 cash floor in Month 16 leaves little room for error.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$406,000	$0 cushion	No cushion; any miss turns negative.
Revenue shortfall	Monthly revenue runs 10% below plan.	$406,000	$40,600 gap	A modest sales miss puts the store under break-even.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed overhead rises 10% to about $373,000 a month.	$446,600	$40,600 gap	Added staff or rent pushes break-even higher fast.
Margin pressure	Variable expense rate rises from 16.5% to 22.0%.	$434,600	$28,600 gap	Higher shipping or returns eats contribution margin.
Combined pressure	Revenue runs 10% below plan, fixed overhead rises 10%, and variable expense rate climbs to 22.0%.	$478,100	$112,700 gap	Cash strain shows up before Month 16.

Is this health and wellness store ready to lock in inventory, payroll, and ad spend before break-even?

Founder checklist

Only commit once supplier terms, product mix, and cash runway all hold up under the model. Break-even lands in Month 15, but the business still needs about $642K of minimum cash through Month 16 and a tight Year 1 cost plan.

1Demand proof35/30/20/15 mix

Verify supplier terms before the $25K initial inventory purchase and confirm the Year 1 mix across supplements, skincare, mindfulness tools, and bundles can sell at the planned prices.

2Fixed burn$6K/mo

Keep platform, software, maintenance, rent, insurance, and fees near the $6K monthly baseline so fixed costs do not outrun early sales.

3Unit margin83.5% CM

Test pricing against Year 1 weighted unit economics and 1.2 units per order so product, packaging, shipping, and processing still leave enough contribution.

4Payroll ramp$235K/yr

Phase hiring because Year 1 payroll averages $235K and the Product Curator starts in Month 7, so labor should follow order volume.

5Cash reserve$642K

Keep reserve cash above the modeled $642K minimum because cash bottoms in Month 16 and payback takes 27 months.

6Launch demand$100K / $30 CAC

Hold first-year marketing near the $100K budget and $30 CAC so acquisition can feed repeat sales instead of stalling before break-even.