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What are you actually making after costs?

Enter your average order value, weekly volume, and cost of goods. See your real profit — weekly, monthly, and annually — plus a 12-month growth projection.

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Understanding Vendor Profit

What real vendors make

Cottage food vendors on platforms like Homegrown report average order values of $12–$35. A vendor taking 30 orders/week at $18 average — with 35% COGS — clears roughly $1,750/month in profit after a $10 subscription. Volume and margin compound quickly once you hit a consistent weekly cadence.

Profit vs. revenue

Revenue is the number that sounds impressive; profit is what pays your bills. A vendor doing $3,000/month in revenue with 60% COGS and $200 in fixed costs nets $1,000 — not $3,000. Always model profit first. If your margin is thin, fix your pricing before you try to grow volume.

When to go full-time

A common rule of thumb: run your side hustle long enough to replace 6 months of your salary in savings, and hit your income target for 3 consecutive months before quitting. Use the 12-month projection table to plan your runway. Most vendors need 12–18 months of consistent growth before the leap makes sense.

Understanding your costs

Split your costs into two buckets: variable (COGS — goes up with every order) and fixed (tools, subscriptions — same every month). The goal is to keep fixed costs low while you're growing and let variable costs scale naturally with revenue. Homegrown's flat $10/mo keeps your fixed overhead predictable no matter your volume.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What profit margin should home-based vendors aim for?
Most successful cottage food vendors target 50–70% gross margin — meaning their cost of goods is 30–50% of revenue. After accounting for subscriptions, packaging, and other fixed costs, a net margin of 40–60% is realistic for a lean operation. If your margins are below 40%, review your pricing before scaling volume.
What's the difference between profit and revenue?
Revenue is the total money customers pay you. Profit is what's left after you subtract your costs — ingredients, materials, packaging, and tools like Homegrown. A vendor doing $2,000/month in revenue with $1,200 in costs has $800 in profit. Focusing on revenue can be misleading; what matters is what you keep.
How many orders do I need to replace a full-time income?
That depends on your order value and margin. At a $20 average order with 40% net margin, you'd need roughly 750 orders/month to clear $6,000 in profit. Use this calculator to find your own break-even and income targets. Most vendors who go full-time have 300–600 orders/month before making the jump.
What counts as 'cost of goods' for cottage food?
Cost of goods (COGS) includes all direct costs to produce what you sell: flour, butter, sugar, packaging, labels, and any ingredients. It does not include fixed overhead like subscriptions, equipment depreciation, or your time. For most baked goods, COGS runs 25–40% of the selling price.
Why does the calculator use 4.33 weeks per month?
A calendar month averages 4.33 weeks (52 weeks ÷ 12 months). Using exactly 4 would undercount your annual numbers by about 4%. The 4.33 multiplier gives you a more accurate monthly and annual projection from your weekly order volume.

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