HIVE MAKER NOTES / EVENT PLANNING
How many sales make a market worthwhile?
A busy booth can still have a disappointing result. Before you book an event, estimate what each sale contributes and the costs that remain even if nothing sells.
1. Find the contribution from one sale.
Start with a price before sales tax. Subtract materials, packaging, making labor, other variable costs and the payment fee. In our fictional candle example, a $24 price minus $9.50 product cost and a $0.996 sample processing fee leaves $13.504 per candle.
The fee example assumes 2.9% + $0.30 and one candle per card transaction. Replace those assumptions with your own fees and typical basket size.
2. Count the costs of showing up.
A $100 booth, $25 travel cost and $15 in other expenses total $140. Six event hours valued at $18 add $108. The total including time is $248. Making time was already counted in product cost; event time is separate.
3. Divide, then round up.
$248 divided by $13.504 is about 18.37. You need 19 whole candles to cover the modeled costs including event labor. Covering only the $140 cash costs requires 11 candles. The two figures answer different questions.
If unit contribution is zero or negative, more sales do not produce a viable break-even point. Revisit the price, product or cost structure first.
4. Test the slow day.
Thirty candles produce $720 in sales and $157.12 profit after the modeled costs. Ten candles produce a $112.96 loss. No sales leave a $248 loss. These are fictional scenarios, not predictions; income tax and costs not entered are excluded.
Make the booking decision.
Compare the required sales with your own history, product fit and event terms. Record the actual result afterward so the next estimate gets better.
Get the free break-even worksheet