Medical Equipment Repair Break-Even: $130K Monthly Revenue Needed

Fixed costs $96.3K/mo Year 1 base

Contribution margin 74% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $130.1K Monthly target

Break-even timing Month 20 Model break point

Break-even calculator

Use this calculator to test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against break-even for a medical equipment repair service.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue sets the margin available to cover overhead each month. $ Lower sales Higher sales Variable expenses Use the direct costs that rise with each repair job, like parts, commissions, and travel. $ Lower direct costs Higher direct costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $164,800 $212,700 revenue - $47,900 variable expenses

Margin ratio

77%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead your contribution margin has to cover. $ Lower overhead Higher overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses stay fixed, and which move with medical equipment repair sales?

Cost classification

Classify costs before doing break-even math, or Month 20 can look safer than it is. Parts, travel, and technician headcount behave differently, so they need different treatment.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Warehouse and Office Lease	Fixed	Include $12,000/month in fixed overhead from Month 1 through Month 60.	Allocating rent per repair job and hiding the monthly cash floor.
Insurance and Bonding	Fixed	Include $4,500/month in fixed overhead for the relevant planning range.	Tying coverage to each job without support from the model.
Software Licenses and IT	Fixed	Include $3,200/month in fixed overhead before calculating contribution margin.	Treating required systems as variable because more customers use them.
Planned Marketing	Fixed	Use $15,000/month in the first year, calculated as $180,000 annual budget divided by 12.	Leaving customer acquisition spend out of the break-even base.
Replacement Parts and Components	Variable	Model as 18.0% of revenue in the first year, declining to 14.0% by the mature year.	Ignoring parts inflation, supplier changes, or repair mix shifts.
Sales Commissions and Travel	Variable	Model as 8.0% of revenue in the first year, declining to 6.0% by the mature year.	Holding travel flat while sales volume and service coverage expand.
Technician Wages	Semi-fixed	Add labor in FTE steps: senior biomedical technicians rise from 2.0 to 6.0 FTE, and field service technicians rise from 3.0 to 12.0 FTE.	Treating all technician pay as per-job variable labor.
Utilities and Communications	Semi-variable	Start with the $1,200/month base, then test usage as calls, dispatches, and office activity grow.	Locking the full bill as fixed and missing usage creep.

How does break-even change from a lean launch team to a full repair bench?

Scenario table

Lean keeps fixed load lighter, so break-even comes sooner. Base and full add staff and coverage, so revenue has to grow faster just to hold the same margin cushion.

Planning cases only; contract mix, labor use, and parts cost will move actual break-even.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean launch team	$1,301K	$338K	$963K	74%	$0	Launch case is tight; small slippage creates loss.
Core hospital-clinic contracts	$1,651K	$396K	$1,255K	76%	$0	This is the core case; steady contract volume keeps break-even in reach.
Expanded route density and bench repair capacity	$1,984K	$446K	$1,538K	77.5%	$0	Full scale needs dense routes and bench work to cover the higher fixed load.

What breaks the break-even plan for medical equipment repair?

Stress test

At $1,301K monthly revenue, $963K fixed costs, and 26% variable expenses, the plan is at break-even. A 10% revenue miss or a 10% fixed-cost jump turns that into about a $96K monthly loss, and higher parts and travel costs push the threshold up again.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$1,301K	$0 cushion	The plan only clears if revenue and margin hold.
Revenue shortfall	Revenue falls 10% from the base plan.	$1,301K	$96K gap	Slower hospital onboarding quickly opens a monthly loss.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed costs rise 10% across lease, insurance, fleet, and staff.	$1,431K	$96K gap	Higher overhead pushes the break-even line out fast.
Margin pressure	Variable expenses rise to 31% from parts and travel.	$1,395K	$65K gap	Rework, warranty returns, and extra miles cut contribution.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 10%, fixed costs rise 10%, and variable expenses rise to 31%.	$1,536K	$251K gap	The downside stacks into a deep monthly loss.

Can you prove demand and cash coverage before locking in the lease and launch spend?

Founder checklist

Do not commit to the lease, fleet, and payroll until contracts, CAC, and launch spend all clear the break-even math. This model does not reach breakeven until Month 20, and payback takes 49 months, so the early cash gap matters most.

1Demand Proof$2.5K CAC

Verify signed or near-signed hospital and clinic contracts before you spend the $180,000 Year 1 marketing budget, because weak conversion will push break-even out.

2Launch Capex$605K

Confirm every vehicle, tool, inventory, and safety item is needed before you fund the full launch capex stack, since delaying nonessential buys lowers the cash hole.

3Fixed Burn$81.3K/mo

Add about $55.6K of Year 1 payroll to $25.7K of fixed overhead and check that contracted revenue can carry that base burn.

4Unit Margin74% CM

Year 1 leaves about 74 cents of each revenue dollar after 18.0% parts and 8.0% sales commissions and travel, so real job costs must stay close to plan.

5Tech Coverage8.0 FTE

Verify that 2 senior biomedical technicians and 3 field service technicians can cover bench repairs and on-site calls without service delays or overtime spikes.

6Cash Trough-$327K

The model bottoms out at about negative $327,000 in Month 20, so you need enough reserve to survive the ramp before breakeven arrives.