LED Grow Light Retail Store Break-Even: $258K Monthly Sales

Fixed costs $20.8K Base monthly overhead

Contribution margin 80.5% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $25.8K Monthly revenue target

Break-even timing Month 38 Profit turns on

Break-even calculator

Use this calculator to test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against break-even for a grow light retail store.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue sets the pool that covers variable costs and fixed overhead. $ Low sales High sales Variable expenses Use costs that rise with sales, like inventory and shipping. $ Lean spend Heavy spend

Money available to cover fixed costs $24,063 $29,167 revenue - $5,104 variable expenses

Margin ratio

83%

Covers fixed costs

$6,820 short

Fixed monthly costs Use monthly rent, payroll, software, and other steady overhead. $ Light overhead Heavy overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales in this indoor gardening retail store?

Cost classification

Break-even is only useful when overhead and sales-linked outflows stay in separate buckets. Here, Month 38 depends on treating rent and base payroll as overhead, while inventory and logistics rise with each sale.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Retail Store Rent	Fixed	Include $4,500 per month as baseline overhead from Month 1 through Month 60.	Loading store buildout into monthly rent.
General Manager, Sales Expert, and Fulfillment Lead Payroll	Fixed	Model first-year salaried payroll at $12,000 per month before later staffing changes.	Treating salaried headcount as per-order labor.
Direct Inventory Procurement	Variable	Apply 12.0% of revenue in the first year, falling to 10.0% by the mature year.	Treating product purchases as fixed overhead.
E-commerce and Shipping Logistics	Variable	Apply 7.5% of revenue in the first year, declining to 5.5% by the mature year.	Ignoring fulfillment drag as order volume grows.
Utilities and High Speed Internet	Semi-variable	Use the model’s $850 monthly base unless usage detail supports a separate volume charge.	Letting higher traffic raise utilities without evidence.
E-commerce Platform Subscription and Inventory Software	Fixed	Combine the $450 platform fee and $200 inventory software fee as $650 monthly overhead.	Scaling subscriptions automatically with revenue.
Digital Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Retainer	Fixed	Include the $2,500 monthly retainer as recurring overhead, not a commission on sales.	Counting all marketing as variable spend.
General Liability Insurance	Fixed	Include $300 per month as stable coverage expense across the planning period.	Dropping insurance from store-level break-even.

How does break-even change from a lean launch to a full LED grow light store?

Scenario table

Early on, fixed costs outrun monthly sales, so the lean and base cases stay below break-even. At full scale, revenue finally spreads those costs enough to create a profit cushion.

Planning assumptions only; actual results will move with traffic, pricing, and staffing.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean launch case	$4.2k	$0.8k	$20.8k	80.5%	-$19.3k	Still far below break-even; launch sales do not cover overhead.
Base ramp case	$29.2k	$5.1k	$30.9k	82.5%	-$11.8k	Losses narrow, but the store is still short of break-even.
Full scale case	$75.2k	$12.4k	$36.6k	83.5%	$21.4k	Break-even is passed, and the store starts to build cushion.

What breaks the break-even plan for this LED grow light store?

Stress test

Year 1 revenue is still far below the roughly $310,000 annual break-even level. The model stays loss-making through Year 3, so weak conversion, higher freight, or a payroll step-up can push Month 38 breakeven back.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$310,000	$260,000 gap	Year 1 sales still do not cover fixed cost.
Revenue shortfall	Visitor-to-buyer conversion falls from 2.5% to 2.0% in the first year.	$310,000	$270,000 gap	Weak conversion keeps cash burn high.
Fixed-cost pressure	Annual fixed costs rise to about $347,000 as the planned payroll ramp lands in Year 2.	$425,000	$272,000 gap	Staffing scales faster than sales.
Margin pressure	Inventory procurement and shipping logistics rise from 19.5% to 24.5% of sales.	$331,000	$281,000 gap	Freight and discounting cut contribution margin.
Combined pressure	Conversion slips to 2.0%, annual fixed costs rise to about $347,000, and variable cost lifts to 24.5%.	$460,000	$420,000 gap	Traffic, payroll, and margin all miss at once.

Before you sign the lease, what should you verify first?

Founder checklist

Test the store against the break-even math before you commit. If the $20.8K monthly fixed load, 80.5% contribution margin, and $62K cash floor do not hold, Month 38 break-even gets pushed back.

1Fixed Load$20.8K/mo

Verify the lease and Year 1 staffing fit inside the full monthly fixed base, because rent, overhead, and wages start before sales catch up.

2Margin Stack80.5% CM

Check that direct inventory procurement stays near 12.0% and shipping logistics near 7.5% of sales, or the path to break-even tightens fast.

3Staffing Ramp2.5 FTE

Keep opening labor at 2.5 full-time equivalent staff and confirm the move to 3.5 FTE in Year 2 still matches traffic, not hope.

4Cash Runway$131.5K / $62K

Cover the opening spend for buildout, website, inventory, racking, signage, and IT, and still protect the $62K cash floor through Month 37.

5Demand Proof2.5% CVR

Confirm the store can convert 2.5% of visitors and keep repeat buyers at 15% of new customers, since Year 1 revenue starts at only $50K.

6Launch Demand120/90 wknd

Make sure opening traffic can hit 120 visitors on Saturday and 90 on Sunday, because early weekend volume is what starts the sales curve.