In-Home IV Therapy Running Costs
Running an In-Home IV Therapy service requires tight control over variable costs, especially labor and supplies In 2026, your total fixed monthly overhead (salaries, rent, medical oversight) starts around $35,742 Variable costs, including COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) and per-visit pay, consume about 190% of revenue, leaving a strong gross margin Achieving the forecasted 362 treatments per month generates over $80,500 in revenue, pushing you past the break-even point quickly The model shows you hit break-even in just 2 months (February 2026), but you must maintain a robust cash buffer The initial capital expenditure (CapEx) totals $165,000, covering medical kits, vehicle down payments, and platform development This upfront investment is key to scaling Focus on optimizing the supply chain to reduce the 120% COGS rate, as this is the biggest lever for long-term profitability This guide details the seven critical recurring expenses you must defintely manage
7 Operational Expenses to Run In-Home IV Therapy
| # | Operating Expense | Expense Category | Description | Min Monthly Amount | Max Monthly Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wages and Salaries | Administrative Payroll | Administrative payroll for the CEO, Ops Manager, and Client Success staff totals approximately $26,042 per month in 2026, representing the largest fixed expense | $26,042 | $26,042 |
| 2 | IV Fluids & Formulations | Variable Cost | This cost is 80% of revenue in 2026, requiring careful vendor negotiation and inventory management to reduce the per-treatment cost | $0 | $0 |
| 3 | Medical Supplies | Variable Cost | Needles, tubing, and ancillary supplies account for 40% of revenue, making up the second largest variable cost component | $0 | $0 |
| 4 | Practitioner Per-Visit Pay | Variable Cost | Paying Registered Nurses (RNs) per visit is a variable cost, estimated at 50% of revenue, which scales directly with treatment volume | $0 | $0 |
| 5 | Medical Director Oversight Fee | Fixed Overhead | A fixed monthly fee of $3,000 is required for medical direction and regulatory compliance, regardless of treatment volume | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| 6 | Technology Subscriptions | Fixed Overhead | The combined monthly cost for scheduling, Electronic Health Records (EHR), and communication platforms is a fixed $1,500 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| 7 | Office Rent and Utilities | Fixed Overhead | Fixed physical overhead, including $2,500 for office rent and $400 for utilities, totals $2,900 monthly | $2,900 | $2,900 |
| Total | Total | All Operating Expenses | $33,442 | $33,442 |
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What is the total minimum monthly running budget required to sustain operations before revenue covers costs?
The total minimum monthly running budget to sustain the In-Home IV Therapy operation before any revenue arrives is roughly $9,500, driven primarily by fixed staffing and regulatory compliance costs; this figure covers keeping your core team paid and your necessary infrastructure active while you define the target market you need to serve; Have You Considered How To Outline The Target Market For In-Home IV Therapy?
Fixed Overhead to Maintain Presence
- One Registered Nurse (RN) base retainer: $4,000/month.
- Part-time administrative or scheduling support: $2,500/month.
- Required Medical Director oversight fees: $1,500 monthly retainer.
- Essential operational software and virtual office space: $500.
Minimum Variable Costs Estimate
- Variable supplies cost per drip (bags, needles, base vitamins): approx. $45.
- Minimum travel reimbursement for 20 initial patient visits: $150.
- If you run just 20 hydration sessions, variable costs hit $1,050.
- Your total burn rate is defintely the $8,500 fixed plus minimum variable spend.
Which recurring cost categories represent the highest percentage of total monthly operating expenses?
For In-Home IV Therapy, administrative payroll and medical supplies are the biggest drains on your operating budget, often combining to consume 65% to 75% of total monthly expenses, which is why understanding owner earnings is key, as detailed in this analysis on How Much Does The Owner Of In-Home IV Therapy Business Typically Make? If you don't manage these two categories tight, you'll defintely run into cash flow trouble fast.
Payroll’s Cash Flow Drag
- Administrative payroll, covering scheduling and billing, runs about 15% of total monthly operating expenses.
- Practitioner wages—the cost to administer the drip—are variable labor, often hitting 40% of revenue.
- If you aim for $1,000 in daily revenue, labor costs alone are near $400 before supplies.
- This means managing practitioner utilization is critical; idle nurses kill your cash position.
Supplies Squeeze Gross Margin
- Medical supplies and fluids (bags, vitamins, needles) are your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).
- These costs typically account for 18% to 22% of the service price charged to the client.
- If labor is 40% and supplies are 20%, your Gross Margin (GM) is only 40% before overhead.
- To maintain a healthy 60% GM, you must negotiate supply costs down below 15% per drip.
How many months of fixed operating costs must be held in reserve as working capital to handle revenue volatility?
You need a working capital reserve covering 2 months of operations, which amounts to $828,000 in minimum cash to bridge the gap until the In-Home IV Therapy service hits positive cash flow. Before you finalize that reserve, Have You Considered How To Outline The Target Market For In-Home IV Therapy? because market clarity defintely impacts the accuracy of your burn rate projections.
Reserve Calculation Basis
- Minimum cash buffer required is $828,000.
- This amount covers 2 months of negative operating cash flow.
- It ensures runway until the service achieves positive cash flow.
- This buffer protects against initial operational delays.
Fixed Cost Management
- Fixed costs include RN salaries and administrative overhead.
- Your growth relies on maximizing practitioner utilization rates.
- If patient acquisition costs run high early on, 2 months might be tight.
- You must track variable costs, like supply chain costs per drip, closely.
If treatment volume falls 25% below forecast, what specific costs can be immediately reduced without impacting service quality?
When In-Home IV Therapy volume drops 25% below forecast, immediately slash discretionary marketing spend and non-essential administrative supplies to protect core service delivery; this is the first step founders take when assessing viability, similar to the analysis required in Is The In-Home IV Therapy Business Currently Profitable? Next, review practitioner pay structures to see if variable compensation can absorb the shock before touching fixed salaries.
Cut Discretionary Overhead First
- Pause all non-essential digital advertising spend immediately. If you budgeted $5,000 monthly for ads, cut $4,000 right now.
- Review software subscriptions; cancel any tool not directly used by a nurse or scheduler.
- Administrative supplies, like office stationery or non-essential training materials, can see a 50% reduction.
- These cuts protect service quality because they don't affect the RN's ability to perform the IV drip.
Analyze Labor Cost Structure
- Practitioner pay is usually variable; if they perform 25% fewer visits, that labor cost drops automatically.
- Fixed costs, like the administrative manager salary of $6,000 per month, do not move.
- If your fixed administrative team is too large relative to the expected volume, you are defintely overstaffed for the downturn.
- Variable pay per visit should be high enough to retain talent but low enough to absorb minor volume shocks.
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Key Takeaways
- The minimum required monthly fixed overhead to sustain In-Home IV Therapy operations begins at $35,742, allowing for a break-even point to be reached in just two months.
- Despite variable costs consuming 190% of revenue, the high 81% contribution margin is the critical factor that drives rapid profitability.
- Administrative payroll, totaling approximately $26,042 per month, represents the single largest fixed expense category that must be rigorously managed.
- Achieving the forecasted treatment volume is essential, as success is projected to yield a strong Year 1 EBITDA of $306,000.
Running Cost 1 : Wages and Salaries
Admin Payroll Impact
Administrative payroll for key staff hits $26,042 monthly in 2026, making it your single biggest fixed overhead item. This cost demands tight management as you scale beyond initial founder salaries. Honestly, this number dictates your minimum viable volume.
Payroll Inputs
This $26,042 covers the CEO, Ops Manager, and Client Success roles projected for 2026. These salaries are fixed costs, meaning they hit the P&L regardless of how many IV drips you sell. Missing this figure means you miscalculate your true operational burn rate, defintely.
- Roles: CEO, Ops Manager, Client Success.
- Timing: Estimated for 2026 operations.
- Impact: Largest non-variable monthly spend.
Controlling Fixed Headcount
Since this is your largest fixed cost, hiring decisions are critical. Delay hiring the Ops Manager until volume justifies the spend, perhaps using fractional support first. Avoid adding Client Success staff until utilization rates for your Registered Nurses (RNs) drop below 75%.
- Delay non-revenue roles.
- Use fractional support early on.
- Tie hiring to RN utilization targets.
Fixed Cost Cushion
Your break-even volume must absorb this $26,042 payroll plus $4,500 in other fixed costs (Director fee, Tech, Rent/Utilities). If revenue targets slip, this large payroll is what drives cash runway needs way up.
Running Cost 2 : IV Fluids & Formulations
Fluid Cost Control
IV fluids are your biggest lever for margin control, hitting 80% of revenue in 2026. You must lock down supplier pricing now. If you don't manage this material cost, profitability disappears fast. This expense demands constant oversight.
Fluid Cost Breakdown
This line item covers the actual IV bags, electrolytes, and vitamin additives used in every drip. To forecast accurately, you need the average cost per treatment (CPT) multiplied by projected monthly visits. Since this is 80% of revenue, even small price changes significantly shift your gross margin.
- Average cost per IV bag.
- Cost of premium vitamin mixes.
- Projected monthly service volume.
Cutting Material Spend
Reducing this 80% cost requires aggressive sourcing strategy, not just volume discounts. Standardize formulations where possible to buy base ingredients cheaper. Watch inventory closely; expired fluids are 100% waste. A 5% reduction here drops this expense to 76% of revenue.
- Negotiate 12-month fixed pricing.
- Implement just-in-time inventory checks.
- Standardize the top three drip formulas.
Inventory Risk
Inventory management is critical because fluids have shelf lives. Holding too much stock ties up cash and risks spoilage, defintely impacting your contribution margin. Track usage daily against par levels to avoid stockouts that halt revenue generation.
Running Cost 3 : Medical Supplies
Supply Cost Weight
Medical supplies like needles and tubing are your second largest variable cost, hitting 40% of revenue right behind the IV fluids. Focus here is critical because every treatment volume increase scales this cost immediately. You defintely need tight vendor control.
Supply Cost Inputs
This 40% category covers consumables needed for administration, specifically needles, tubing, and other ancillary items used per IV drip. To budget accurately, you must track units per service multiplied by negotiated vendor pricing for these specific items. This cost sits between the 80% fluid cost and the 50% practitioner pay.
- Units of needles/tubing per service
- Vendor unit price agreements
- Total treatments delivered monthly
Optimizing Supply Spend
Savings come from volume purchasing and vendor consolidation, not material substitution, since quality and compliance are non-negotiable here. Negotiate bulk tiers based on projected 2026 volume, aiming to shave 5 to 10 points off the current 40% allocation. A common mistake is using too many small suppliers.
- Consolidate purchasing to one primary vendor
- Negotiate pricing tiers based on volume
- Review inventory management to cut waste
Total Variable Pressure
With fluids at 80%, supplies at 40%, and RN pay at 50%, your total direct cost before fixed overhead is 170% of revenue. This means your gross margin is negative until you raise prices or cut practitioner pay/supply costs significantly. You need to drive average order value up fast.
Running Cost 4 : Practitioner Per-Visit Pay
RN Pay is 50%
Registered Nurse (RN) compensation is your primary variable expense, set at 50% of revenue. This means profitability hinges entirely on maximizing the number of billable visits per nurse shift. If you project $80,000 in monthly sales, expect $40,000 to go straight to practitioner pay, defintely before materials.
Calculating Visit Cost
This cost covers the RN administering the treatment on location. To budget, take your expected monthly revenue and multiply it by 50%. This cash outlay scales immediately with volume, unlike the fixed $1,500 for technology or $2,900 for rent. You need tight scheduling software to track this accurately.
- Input: Total Monthly Revenue
- Calculation: Revenue times 0.50
- Output: Total RN Payout
Manage Route Efficiency
You can’t easily cut the 50% rate, but you can reduce non-billable time. Focus on route density—stacking appointments geographically—to increase visits per hour worked. Avoid paying premium rates for RNs stuck in traffic between distant appointments. If travel time exceeds 20% of the visit, margins suffer badly.
- Prioritize zip code density
- Minimize non-billable travel
- Negotiate hourly caps
Variable Cost Stacking
Your largest variable costs are Fluids (80%), RN Pay (50%), and Supplies (40%). This means your gross margin before fixed overhead is only -10% if you calculate these three costs together against revenue. You must drive volume aggressively to cover the fixed $26,042 payroll and $3,000 oversight fee.
Running Cost 5 : Medical Director Oversight Fee
Fixed Oversight Cost
The mandatory Medical Director Oversight Fee sets a fixed baseline cost of $3,000 monthly, which you must cover before seeing any revenue from treatments. This fee supports necessary medical direction and regulatory compliance for your mobile IV service, regardless of how many drips you sell.
Cost Breakdown
This $3,000 covers the essential medical oversight needed to operate legally, covering protocol review and regulatory standing. It is a pure fixed cost, unlike your variable costs hitting 80% for fluids and 50% for RN pay. If you run zero treatments, this cost, plus $30,442 in other fixed overhead, still hits your bank account. Honestly, it's a non-negotiable baseline.
- Fixed cost is $3,000 per month.
- Covers medical direction and compliance.
- Scales to zero treatments volume.
Diluting Overhead
Since this is a fixed fee for compliance, you can't cut it directly. The only lever is volume: spread the $3,000 across more treatments to lower its impact per service. If you aim for 100 treatments, the fee is $30 per drip; if you hit 300, it drops to $10 per drip. Defintely focus on practitioner utilization to dilute this overhead fast.
Break-Even Anchor
This $3,000 must be covered before variable costs, meaning you need enough revenue just to pay the Medical Director and keep the lights on. If your other fixed costs total $30,442, your minimum monthly revenue target is high just to service overhead before paying nurses or buying supplies.
Running Cost 6 : Technology Subscriptions
Fixed Tech Stack Cost
Your core technology stack—scheduling, Electronic Health Records (EHR), and communication platforms—is a predictable fixed cost of $1,500 monthly. This spend is mandatory to maintain compliance and manage the logistics for every mobile treatment you deliver.
What $1,500 Buys
This $1,500 covers three essential systems for your concierge IV service. You require robust Electronic Health Records (EHR) for legally charting patient visits, a scheduling tool for coordinating your Registered Nurses (RNs), and communication software. These are non-negotiable fixed inputs required before the first drip goes out.
- EHR ensures patient data security.
- Scheduling manages nurse routes efficiently.
- Comms handles client confirmations.
Managing Subscription Spend
Don't pay for features you won't use; audit your tech stack every six months. Look for platforms that offer integrated functionality to avoid paying three separate monthly fees for similar services. You should defintely check if your EHR scales pricing based on active practitioner licenses rather than seat count alone.
- Audit unused features quarterly.
- Negotiate annual prepaid discounts.
- Consolidate billing where possible.
Diluting Fixed Tech Costs
Because this $1,500 is fixed, it becomes easier to absorb as volume increases. If you hit 100 visits monthly, this overhead is $15 per visit; at 300 visits, it drops to $5 per visit. Your focus must be maximizing nurse utilization to dilute this fixed spend fast.
Running Cost 7 : Office Rent and Utilities
Fixed Space Cost
Your fixed physical overhead for the base of operations—rent and utilities—is $2,900 monthly. This cost remains constant whether you run zero drips or run fifty, making it a critical component of your baseline burn rate before you pay staff or directors.
Setting Up Shop
This $2,900 covers the necessary physical hub for your mobile IV practice. It includes $2,500 for office rent and $400 for utilities. Since this is a fixed cost, you budget it monthly regardless of patient volume. This cost is small relative to your $26,042 payroll, but it’s non-negotiable overhead.
- Rent quote: $2,500/month.
- Utility estimate: $400/month.
- Total fixed physical cost: $2,900.
Cutting Space Costs
Since you deliver services in-home, you don't need prime retail space. Focus on minimizing this fixed drain. If you can negotiate a lower rent or share space, every dollar saved directly boosts your operating margin. Defintely look at virtual office options first.
- Avoid long-term leases initially.
- Negotiate utility inclusion in rent.
- Consider shared administrative space.
Breakeven Impact
This $2,900 fixed overhead must be covered before any variable costs (like the 50% practitioner pay) are earned back. If your average drip nets $150 contribution margin after supplies, you need about 20 visits monthly just to cover rent and utilities before hitting payroll or director fees.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Total monthly running costs in Year 1 start around $35,742 in fixed overhead plus variable costs (190% of revenue) With an average treatment price of $200-$280, you need about 180 treatments monthly to cover fixed costs