What would your next website need to earn back?
A useful website business case connects the project cost to additional customer contribution. Enter your own figures to find the break-even target, then test a scenario you choose.
Free to use with any provider. No signup or email gate. A calculation cannot tell you whether a new website will produce those customers.
Start with the target.
Then test the assumption.
Use the complete additional project cost and the contribution a customer could make within the same period. If you do not have those figures yet, keep the gaps visible rather than filling them with an industry average.
Your entries stay in this tab. This calculator does not save or send them. Copy or download before leaving. Discussing the project opens a separate enquiry form and does not transfer these figures.
How the calculation works.
Break-even and ROI answer different questions. The first gives a recovery target. The second describes the return from the customer scenario you enter, over the period you select.
Count the additional cost
Project cost = one-off cost + additional monthly cost × months
Include the full quoted build, relevant content and migration work, and internal time or setup costs you want the project to recover. A deposit is part of the full build cost. Monthly costs should be above existing spending; do not count the old bill again.
Find the customer target
Customers required = project cost ÷ contribution per customer
The result rounds up to a whole customer. Contribution means the amount left after the extra cost of delivering that work. Revenue alone overstates what is available to recover the website cost. Use a representative contribution or calculate separate service lines individually.
Work back to enquiries
Enquiry target = whole-customer target ÷ enquiry-to-customer rate
This optional step uses your observed average rate and rounds up. The rate must describe comparable qualified enquiries, not every form submission or click. A 0% rate cannot support a finite positive customer target. An average is a planning assumption, not a promise that a set number will close.
Test a customer scenario
Simple ROI = (additional customer contribution − project cost) ÷ project cost × 100
You enter the additional customer count. The tool does not assume a conversion uplift. The result applies to the whole chosen period and is not annualised. When the project cost is zero, the ROI percentage is undefined.
The U.S. Small Business Administration explains break-even using fixed costs divided by unit price less variable cost. This tool applies that arithmetic to the website project and customer contribution you enter. It does not calculate taxes, finance costs, payment timing, discounted cash flows or cost savings.
Make the business case easier to challenge.
A useful calculation lets someone else inspect the assumptions. Record what the numbers represent, where they came from and what would need to change before approving the project.
Use the same time window
Only count contribution earned inside the selected period. A customer acquired near the end has less time to contribute. Lifetime revenue does not belong in a 12-month recovery calculation unless it is actually earned within those months.
Separate an enquiry from a sale
A click, an enquiry, a qualified opportunity and a paying customer are different steps. Check the actual enquiry route and compare recorded customers with relevant enquiries. Google's recommended Analytics events distinguish lead generation from purchases; a tracked event alone does not establish profit.
Keep attribution honest
Customers can arrive through referrals, sales work, advertising and repeat business. Do not credit every new customer to a redesign. Define what you will measure before launch, keep a baseline where one exists and record other changes that could affect the result.
Before you use the result.
Is this a forecast of website revenue?
No. The recovery target comes from the costs and contribution you enter. The optional ROI result comes from your additional-customer scenario. Neither establishes that a redesign will increase traffic, improve conversion or win those customers.
What if this is our first website?
You can calculate a recovery target without traffic history. Use the costs and customer contribution you can support, and leave an unknown enquiry rate blank. Treat the target as a question to test, not evidence of demand. A first site can also serve practical needs such as explaining an offer or supporting referrals; those benefits may not be captured here.
Can I compare currencies?
Choose one currency and use it for every monetary input. The tool supports GBP, EUR, USD, CAD and AUD labels but does not convert exchange rates. Changing currency clears the three monetary fields so figures cannot be silently relabelled.
Does a negative scenario mean we should cancel the project?
It means that scenario's additional contribution is below the entered cost. Recheck the scope, assumptions and other reasons for the project. The calculator does not assess brand quality, internal workload, accessibility, customer service or the risk of leaving a broken site unchanged.
Turn the business case into a clear brief.
The next step is to agree what the website must explain, which pages and functions are needed, and what will count as a useful result. UpOnUp brings original design, copywriting and development together in one scoped project for businesses worldwide.