Free calculator
The monthly profit that truly replaces your paycheck - benefits and self-employment tax included - and how close your side business is.
Every tradesperson running a side business circles the same question: when can the W2 go? The internet answers with feelings. The math answers with three numbers most people forget - and all three make the target bigger than the paycheck.
Replacing take-home pay is not enough. Self-employed, you also pay the employer half of FICA - about 7.65% that your employer used to cover invisibly. And the benefits the job carried, health insurance above all, become your bill. Stack those on top of take-home and the profit the business must clear is typically 15% to 30% more than the paycheck it replaces.
A common bar: when steady business profit covers about a third of your living expenses, the leap becomes survivable - because savings can bridge the rest while you scale into the freed-up hours. That only works with a real cushion; six months of the CURRENT gap between living costs and business profit is a defensible floor.
Trades are seasonal. The same numbers that say "go" in March say "wait" in October - leaving at the front of your busy season with booked work beats leaving into the slow months with hope. A few honest seasons of side-business records beat any projection.
The jobs-per-week figure this page produces is a sales target. The break-even calculator covers the business side of the same math, and the hourly rate calculator makes sure the jobs you book are priced to get you out.
A defensible floor is six months of the gap between your living expenses and what the business currently clears - not six months of full expenses, because the business keeps contributing. Pair it with the one-third rule: steady business profit covering about a third of living costs before you jump.
Typically 15% to 30% more than your take-home. You pick up the employer half of FICA (about 7.65%) and the benefits your job carried - health insurance being the big one. This calculator adds both so the target is the honest number, not the optimistic one.
At the front of your busy season, with work already booked - not into the slow months on hope. Trades are seasonal, and the same savings last twice as long when the calendar is filling itself.
No. Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the math runs in your browser. There is no account and no email.
Compare the hours and costs you quoted against what the job actually took.
Convert between the two, and find the markup that lands the margin you want.
Work back from the take-home you want, your overhead, and the hours you can actually bill.
A payment schedule from a job total - deposit, progress draw, and balance, the three payments you will actually collect.
Load payroll taxes, comp, benefits, and paid time off into the true hourly cost of a crew member.
Trade-by-trade launch costs, the monthly bills that start on day one, and your runway.
Fixed costs divided by what a job really contributes - the first number a new business should know.
The all-in monthly cost, the cost on every job, and the extra jobs a month that carry it.
The jobs-per-week target is a sales problem, and FEM is built for it: fast estimates, automatic follow-up, and a pipeline that shows whether the leap is ready. Start free - no credit card required.
Build a real estimate freeSolo is $29.99/month with every office feature. Canvass is $59.99/month plus $19.99/month per rep seat.
