1. What you sell
2. Labor and the bench
3. Tools, rent and fixed costs
4. Care plans and margin
Enter your numbers or load the example, then click Work out the plan.
Result
Each service
| Service | Price | Cost | Profit | Margin | Per bench hour | Price for target |
|---|
The season at different volumes
| Volume | Jobs | Revenue | Profit | Bench hours | Bench used |
|---|
The arithmetic, and what it leaves out
- Each job costs its bench minutes at the technician's pay plus payroll extras, plus its materials. Profit is price less that cost.
- Profit per bench hour is price less materials, divided by the hours on the bench, before the technician's pay, so it compares services on the one thing a busy season runs out of.
- Fixed cost is the tools spread over the seasons you will keep it, rent for the months you are open, and the other fixed cost you type. The plan result is every service's profit, plus the pass line, less fixed cost.
- A care plan is revenue once, against the flat-fix visits its members use. Its break-even is the plan price divided by what one flat fix costs you.
- Not modelled: your own pay as owner, retail and rentals, sales tax, card fees, insurance, hiring a second technician, and income tax.
Common questions
How much should a bike shop charge for a job?
Add the bench minutes at your technician's loaded hourly cost to the tubes, cables, lube and parts the job uses, then divide by one minus the margin you want. A full tune-up takes about an hour on the bench and an overhaul several, so a price that looks fair next to the shop down the road can still lose money if your mechanic is slow or the stand is idle. Type your own minutes and costs and read the price off.
Is a care plan worth selling?
A care plan (a yearly membership with free flat fixes and discounted tune-ups) is cash up front for work you do later, so price it against the number of visits a holder will really use. The result shows what each visit earns and the number of visits at which the pass starts losing money. Count honestly: a member who rolls in every week with a flat costs far more than the one who forgets.
How many jobs does a bike shop need to break even?
Fixed costs for the busy season (stands, truing gear and tools spread over the years you will keep them, rent and utilities for the months you count, and anything else) divided by what each job contributes after labor and materials. The calculator prints the break-even count at your mix and a table of the plan at 50 to 150 percent of the volume you expect.
Why does the bench-hour figure matter?
A shop has a fixed number of bench hours in the spring rush. A service that earns more for each hour on the bench is the one to push when the bench is full, and the one to raise first when it is not. The result ranks your services by that figure.
What does this leave out?
Your own pay as owner, bike and accessory sales, rentals, warranty work, the slow months outside your busy season, sales tax, card fees, shop insurance, a second mechanic's hiring cost and your income tax. It is a planning aid, not an estimate of record.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.