Top 5 Online Calculators for Entrepreneurs
This shortlist is inspired from a very extensive list of calculators found on the excellent Bootstraper blog. I’ve gone through the list and picked those that I feel are particularly relevant for entrepreneurs.
1. Break Even Analysis Calculator
This calculator allows you to work out the level of sales required to break even. Very useful for working out the minimum levels of conversion needed to break even and ideal for calculating your pricing levels when business planning and forecasting. The calculator also gives you target unit sales to achieve profit targets which is very useful.
2. Business Valuation Calculator
Looking to trade sale your existing business? This calculator can help you determine a guide valuation for your business. It takes in to account your profit and losses as well as current level of owners compensation, it also adds business sector and time in business to the equation. I’m quite impressed with the results, of course it can only be used as a guide.
It goes without saying that a professional accountant specialising in business valuation will be required to give you a realistic valuation, however it is a good starting point for those considering selling their businesses.
3. Gross Profit Margin Calculator
This one is very useful indeed and helps you decide on a market sale price of your product/service. Quite a straightforward calculator compared to the others, however it is one of the most useful to entrepreneurs, especially at those early stages of planning. This calculator can be used in a slightly different way for those with no tangible unit costs, for example an internet startup with a subscription service. In these circumstances you can experiment with using your CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) instead of costs of goods sold, and work out a gross profit margin after customer acquisition costs.
4. Starting Costs Calculator
Working out your set up costs is a very worth while activity when in the early stages of business planning. Using this calculator will give you a guide as to how much initial investment your business will require and how much safety net contingency you should account for.
The calculator takes in to account all of the major initial expenditure you may have when launching your new venture and is great for clarifying what growth goals to set yourself.
5. Conversion Rate Calculator
This is one of my favourites, it allows you to predict how improvements to your websites conversion rate will impact on your profit potential. Very useful for internet startups.
We all understand how important the conversion rate is as a metric for not only website success but also potential investors valuation. I highly recommend that all internet entrepreneurs focus on improving conversion rates. I will be exploring various conversion rate improvement techniques in future posts.
Edge Venture Calculator
We are currently concentrating on developing our Investment Pitching System but we also have our own business calculator in development. We are working on a calculator which combines, business startup analysis with conversion rates and business valuation for investment purposes. Make sure you subscribe to the feed to be the first to have a play.
Updates
I will be updating this list on a regular basis as I find decent calculators on my travels around the internet. Of course if you find any I would love to hear about them please email me at info [at] edge-venture [dot] com.
