Laser Cutting Business Tools
Costing, quoting and break-even — the three numbers that decide whether a workshop survives its busy season.
Most workshops do not fail because the cuts were bad. They fail because the price did not cover the real cost, or because nobody knew how many units were needed to cover fixed costs. These tools address that side of the business.
1. Know the true cost per part
Cost has four parts: material per part, machine time, labour and extras. Material is the sheet price divided by the parts you actually fit, plus waste. Machine time is cut length and engraving area converted to minutes at your real speeds, multiplied by an honest machine rate. Labour is design and setup spread across the quantity.
Use the cost calculator with your own numbers. It shows the breakdown, so you can see which line is dominating the price.
2. Apply margin on the selling price
If a part costs $4 and you want a 40% margin, the price is $4 ÷ 0.6 = $6.67 — not $5.60. Margin is a share of the price; markup is applied to cost. Mixing them is the most common pricing error in small manufacturing.
3. Quote consistently
A quote should state what is included, the price, the lead time and the terms. The quote builder produces an itemised quote with discount, tax and validity, generated in your browser so customer details never leave your machine.
4. Know your break-even
Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution per unit, where contribution is price minus variable cost. The break-even calculator also shows the units needed to hit a profit target, which is the more useful number once the workshop is running.
Business tools
When spreadsheets stop working
Quotes in one file, stock in another, job status in your head — that works until three orders overlap. 0Machine puts projects, customers, orders, material inventory, quotes, invoices, scheduling and time tracking in one system, so the numbers used for pricing are the same numbers used for production.
Related reading
Put it into practice
The free calculators work on real jobs — and 0Machine handles projects, quotes, stock and production when you are ready to run the whole workshop.