Self-Storage Break-Even Analysis: Month 45 Operating Target

Fixed costs $20.0K/mo Base overhead

Contribution margin 85.0% Year 1 mix

Break-even revenue $23.5K/mo Cover overhead

Break-even timing Month 45 Cash turns positive

Break-even calculator

Use this to test how monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs stack up against break-even.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue sets the pool that pays variable costs and leaves margin for fixed costs. $ Soft launch Strong ramp Variable expenses These are the costs that rise as revenue rises, mainly management and leasing commissions. $ Light load Heavy load

Money available to cover fixed costs $97,000 $110,000 revenue - $13,000 variable expenses

Margin ratio

88%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead the margin must cover before profit starts. $ Lean base Full overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales in this storage development model?

Cost classification

Break-even gets unreliable when fixed overhead is treated like unit-level expense, or sales-linked fees are buried in overhead. Classify each line first, so contribution margin and Month 45 break-even math stay clean.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Corporate Office Rent	Fixed	Include $10,000 per month in base overhead.	Spreading it across occupied units.
Utilities & Internet Corporate	Fixed	Include $1,500 per month in recurring overhead.	Treating corporate utilities as occupancy-driven.
Property Management Software Licenses	Fixed	Include $2,000 per month before contribution margin.	Burying recurring software in technology capex.
Legal & Accounting Fees	Fixed	Include $3,000 per month for recurring compliance work.	Ignoring ongoing legal and accounting needs.
Corporate Insurance & D&O	Fixed	Include $2,500 per month in corporate overhead.	Confusing it with tenant insurance payouts.
Payroll	Semi-fixed	Model planned hiring steps, from about $30.8k per month in the first year to about $58.3k per month by Year 3.	Undercounting hires already in the staffing plan.
Rented Site Payments	Fixed	Include $15,000, $25,000, and $18,000 per month as each rented site becomes active.	Classifying site rent as variable.
Property Management & Leasing Commissions	Variable	Deduct from revenue at 12.0% in Year 1, stepping down to 7.0% in Year 5.	Including sales-linked commissions in overhead.

How does self-storage break-even shift from lean lease-up to base case and full stabilization?

Scenario table

Break-even moves mainly because fixed costs rise as the platform adds staffed, rented sites, while contribution margin improves only gradually. The formula is fixed costs divided by contribution margin, and the model still points to a Month 45 break-even signal for planning.

Planning case only: these scenario figures are assumptions for operating planning, not financing approval or a guaranteed result.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean lease-up	$598k	$90k	$508k	85.0%	$0	Thin cushion; small overruns push loss.
Base case	$1,458k	$182k	$1,276k	87.5%	$0	This is the planning midpoint and Month 45 signal.
Full stabilization	$1,503k	$140k	$1,363k	90.7%	$0	Best cushion here, but fixed costs still stay high.

What breaks the break-even plan for self-storage development?

Stress test

Current plan sits at about $1.503M in monthly revenue with no cushion. A 10% revenue miss or a 10% overhead jump quickly turns that into a six-figure gap, and a 3-point margin hit adds more pressure.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$1.503M	$0 cushion	No cushion; any delay hurts cash.
Revenue shortfall	Monthly revenue falls 10% to about $1.353M.	$1.503M	$136k gap	Slow lease-up leaves a six-figure hole.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed overhead rises 10% to about $1.500M.	$1.654M	$151k gap	Higher overhead pushes the bar up.
Margin pressure	Variable expenses rise 3 points, cutting contribution margin to 87.7%.	$1.555M	$52k gap	Insurance or utilities can erode margin fast.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 10%, fixed costs rise 10%, and margin drops 3 points.	$1.710M	$313k gap	Small misses stack into a large funding gap.

What should you verify before you close land or start the build on a self-storage project?

Founder checklist

Check the site mix, build budget, staffing ramp, and cash cushion against the model before you commit. If the Month 44 cash trough of negative $18.45M and Month 45 break-even do not fit your reserve plan, slow the land close or the build start.

1Site Control$9.5M + $58K/mo

Verify which sites are owned versus rented before you commit, because the owned purchases total $9.5M and the rented sites add $58K per month when all are active.

2Build Release$16.9M

Check that permits and entitlements can clear before you release the $16.9M construction budget, because delay there pushes cash out while EBITDA is still negative.

3Margin Mix85% CM

Test pricing, tenant insurance, and ancillary sales against a Year 1 contribution margin of about 85%, because weaker unit economics make Month 45 break-even harder to hit.

4Payroll Ramp$31K→$58K/mo

Tie hiring to opening milestones, because payroll rises from about $31K per month in Year 1 to about $58K per month by Year 3.

5Cash Cushion-$18.45M

Make sure reserves cover the Month 44 cash trough of about negative $18.45M, since EBITDA stays negative in Years 1, 2, and 3.

6Lease-Up PlanMonth 45

Do not spend on software, marketing, or added operating staff until the lease-up calendar supports it, because break-even lands in Month 45 and payback takes 58 months.