Markup is calculated on cost (how much you add to what you paid), while margin is calculated on selling price (what percentage of the sale is profit). A 50% markup equals a 33% margin. Most business owners think in markup terms, but banks and investors analyze margins.

Example: You buy for $60. With 50% markup, you sell for $90 (added $30 to cost). But your margin is only 33% ($30 profit ÷ $90 price). To get 50% margin, you'd need to sell for $120 (100% markup).

Understanding both prevents the common mistake of setting prices too low when converting between the two. Use the Markup Calculator to see both metrics side-by-side.

Most venture capitalists recommend 18-24 months of runway. This gives you 12-15 months to hit milestones and 6-9 months to raise your next round. Bootstrapped companies should aim for 12+ months minimum.

The Startup Runway Calculator factors in burn rate, revenue growth, and one-time expenses to show your actual months remaining—not just simple division.

Critical timing: Start fundraising when you hit 12 months of runway, not 6 months. It takes 6-9 months from first investor meeting to cash in bank, and you'll lose negotiating leverage if investors know you're desperate.

Three common issues: (1) You're not including all costs—setup fees, training time, maintenance. (2) You're measuring too early—most marketing ROI needs 6-12 months to stabilize. (3) You're not accounting for opportunity cost—the returns you gave up by not investing elsewhere.

The ROI Calculator includes fields for total cost of ownership and time period to give you accurate returns. Many marketers calculate ROI on revenue instead of profit, inflating results by 60-80%.

Pro tip: Calculate ROI on gross profit (revenue minus direct costs), not revenue. A campaign that generates $100K in revenue with $80K in product costs has $20K profit, not $100K. That changes the math dramatically.

It varies wildly by sector:

SaaS companies: 70-85% gross margins, 15-25% net margins
Retail stores: 30-50% gross margins, 2-5% net margins
Restaurants: 60-70% gross margins, 3-5% net margins (high overhead)
Professional services: 50-70% gross margins, 10-20% net margins
Manufacturing: 25-35% gross margins, 5-10% net margins

The Margin Calculator helps you see where you stand, but benchmark against similar businesses in your specific niche, not broad industry averages. A boutique agency and a large consulting firm are both "professional services" but operate on completely different margin structures.

Tiered commissions use different rates for different sales levels. For example: 5% on first $10K, 7% on $10-25K, 10% on $25K+.

If you sell $30K, you earn:
• $500 (5% × $10K for tier 1)
• $1,050 (7% × $15K for tier 2)
• $500 (10% × $5K for tier 3)
= $2,050 total commission

The Sales Commission Calculator handles these breakpoints automatically. Many companies also add accelerators (higher rates after quota) or decelerators (lower rates if you miss targets).

Design tip: Set tier breakpoints at realistic monthly targets (not arbitrary round numbers) to create natural motivation. A jump from 5% to 8% at $20K quota is more motivating than 5% to 6% at $25K.

Most owners underestimate by 40-60%. The Hourly Cost Calculator includes:

• Direct labor (salary or wages)
• Payroll taxes (7.65% FICA minimum)
• Benefits (average 30% of wages)
• Rent and utilities
• Insurance (liability, health, workers comp)
• Software subscriptions
• Equipment depreciation
• Administrative overhead

A $50K salary employee typically costs $75-85K when you factor everything in. Knowing your true hourly cost helps with pricing services, project bidding, and deciding whether to hire or outsource.

Track revenue per 1,000 followers and cost per engagement. Successful TikTok creators diversify income across 4-6 streams:

Creator Fund: $0.02-0.04 per 1K views (lowest ROI, but passive)
Brand deals: $0.01-0.02 per follower for micro-influencers (main income source)
Affiliate sales: 10-30% conversion rate from engaged followers
Product sales: Your own merch, courses, or services (highest margins)

The TikTok Monetization Matrix Calculator compares your metrics across all revenue channels to show where you're underperforming.

Red flag: If 80%+ of your income comes from one stream (usually Creator Fund), you're vulnerable to platform changes. Diversify into 3-4 channels minimum.

YouTube requires 4,000 watch hours (240,000 minutes) in the past 12 months, plus 1,000 subscribers. But here's what they don't tell you:

Those hours must be from:
• Public videos (not unlisted or private)
• Original content (not copyrighted material)
• Long-form videos (Shorts don't count toward 4K hours, though 10M Short views is an alternative path)
• Valid views (not from bots or view exchanges)

The YouTube Watch Time Calculator shows your daily pace needed and projects your monetization date based on current performance.

Growth hack: 10-minute videos with 50% retention generate 5 minutes watch time per view. That's 3x more efficient than 20-minute videos with 25% retention (also 5 minutes), but shorter videos typically get higher retention rates.

It depends on follower count. Industry benchmarks for 2025:

Nano-influencers (1K-10K followers): 5-8% engagement
Micro-influencers (10K-100K): 3-5% engagement
Mid-tier influencers (100K-500K): 1.5-3% engagement
Macro-influencers (500K-1M): 1-2% engagement
Mega-influencers (1M+): 0.5-1.5% engagement

Engagement rates have dropped 40% since 2020 due to algorithm changes and increased competition. The Instagram Engagement Benchmark Calculator compares your rate to industry averages for your follower tier.

Quality check: If your rate is below average, you're either buying followers, using ineffective hashtags, or your content doesn't resonate. High follower count with low engagement is worse than small following with high engagement for brand partnerships.

The Time Worth Calculator uses three methods:

1. Income-based method: Annual income ÷ 2,080 working hours. If you earn $150K, your time is worth $72/hour. This is your baseline.

2. Opportunity cost method: What could you earn doing your highest-value task? If you're a consultant billing $200/hour but spending time on $15/hour bookkeeping, your real time value is $200/hour—that's what you're giving up.

3. Life satisfaction method: How much would you pay to free up an hour for personal priorities (family, health, hobbies)? Most executives value personal time at 1.5-2x their professional hourly rate.

Most business owners discover their time is worth $75-200/hour, yet they spend 10-20 hours weekly on tasks worth $15-30/hour (bookkeeping, social media scheduling, basic admin). This calculation transforms decision-making around delegating, automating, or eliminating low-value work.

Action item: Track one week of activities. Calculate time spent on tasks worth less than your hourly value. Multiply that by 52 weeks. That's the annual cost of not delegating effectively.