Unit Economics Calculator

Unit Economics Calculator — Unit Economics Calculation Methodology

A skill that enhances the business-modeler's financial analysis capabilities.

Target Agents

• business-modeler — Calculates unit economics systematically
• launch-reviewer — Validates financial assumptions

Core Metrics

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

CAC = Total Marketing & Sales Spend / New Customers Acquired

Components:
- Advertising spend (paid channels)
- Sales team costs (salary + commission)
- Marketing tool costs
- Content production costs

Blended CAC vs. Channel-specific CAC

LTV (Lifetime Value)

Simple: LTV = ARPU x Average Customer Lifespan
Detailed: LTV = ARPU x Gross Margin x (1 / Churn Rate)

For subscription:
  LTV = Monthly ARPU x Gross Margin x (1 / Monthly Churn Rate)

For e-commerce:
  LTV = AOV x Purchase Frequency x Customer Lifespan x Gross Margin

Key Ratios

LTV/CAC Ratio:
  < 1x: Unsustainable (losing money per customer)
  1-3x: Improving but risky
  >= 3x: Healthy (industry benchmark)
  > 5x: May be underinvesting in growth

Payback Period:
  = CAC / Monthly Gross Profit per Customer
  Target: <= 12 months (SaaS), <= 6 months (e-commerce)

Gross Margin:
  = (Revenue - COGS) / Revenue x 100
  SaaS target: 70-85%
  E-commerce target: 30-50%
  Marketplace target: 60-80% (of take rate)

Break-Even Point (BEP)

BEP (units) = Fixed Costs / (Price - Variable Cost per Unit)
BEP (revenue) = Fixed Costs / Contribution Margin Ratio

Monthly BEP:
  Fixed monthly costs / (ARPU - Variable cost per user)

Scenario Analysis Template

| Metric | Conservative | Base | Optimistic |
|--------|-------------|------|-----------|
| Monthly new customers | | | |
| Churn rate | | | |
| ARPU | | | |
| CAC | | | |
| Gross margin | | | |
| LTV | | | |
| LTV/CAC | | | |
| Payback period | | | |
| Monthly burn | | | |
| Runway (months) | | | |
| BEP month | | | |

Industry Benchmarks