How many customers you need to break even
A simple sum for your daily break-even covers, and the question to ask once you have the number.
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What you’ll learn
- The three figures you need: monthly fixed costs, contribution per customer and trading days
- How to turn them into break-even covers per day
- Why that number is a floor, not a target
- Testing it against your location, capacity, opening hours and demand
About this lesson
Before you open a restaurant, café or coffee shop, you need to know your break-even covers.
How many customers do you actually need every day just to break even?
In this EDC Tuesday Masterclass, Ali Solak explains a simple restaurant break-even calculation:
£30,000 monthly fixed costs
£10 contribution per customer
26 trading days
£30,000 ÷ £10 = 3,000 customers per month
3,000 ÷ 26 = approximately 115 covers per day
That's 115 customers every day just to break even.
Not to make a profit.
Not to pay yourself a big salary.
Not to celebrate opening night.
Just to stand still.
And if you're already operating, you should know your break-even covers too.
Your Business Check:
Monthly fixed costs
÷ contribution per customer
÷ trading days
= break-even covers per day
Use your own numbers.
Then ask the uncomfortable question:
Can your location, capacity, opening hours and customer demand realistically deliver that number?
This is practical restaurant financial planning — not generic hospitality advice.