What-If Scenario Builder
Change prices, sales volume, or costs and see how those assumptions could affect revenue and monthly profit. Use scenarios to explore what might happen before making a business decision.
Build a simple business model
Start with a simple picture of the business, then change one or more assumptions to see how the result responds.
First describe the business using a typical month. Then use the scenario fields to change the assumptions you want to explore.
Describe what the business looks like today or under your current plan.
Enter how much you want each assumption to increase or decrease.
Enter 10 for a 10% increase and -10 for a 10% decrease.
When you are unsure which assumption matters most, changing one variable at a time makes the effect easier to understand.
What goes here?
Example: If you normally sell around 500 units per month, enter 500.
For a service business, this could represent the number of customer transactions or paid service engagements.
What goes here?
Example: If the product normally sells for $25, enter 25.
What goes here?
This can include materials, packaging, transaction fees, commissions, or other per-sale costs.
Example: If a product sells for $25 and its materials and packaging cost $10 per unit, enter 10.
What goes here?
Examples include rent, subscriptions, insurance, or fixed salaries.
Example: If these costs total about $2,000 per month, enter 2000.
What goes here?
Example: Enter 10 to test a 10% price increase. Enter -10 to test a 10% price decrease.
What goes here?
Example: Enter 20 to test 20% more sales. Enter -20 to test 20% fewer sales.
What goes here?
Example: Enter 15 to test a 15% increase in variable cost. Enter -15 to test a 15% decrease.
What goes here?
Example: Enter 10 to test a 10% increase in fixed costs. Enter -10 to test a 10% decrease.
Why use a what-if scenario?
Business decisions are often based on assumptions: a certain price, a certain number of customers, a particular cost, or an expected level of sales.
A what-if analysis lets you change those assumptions before making the decision and observe how the simplified model responds.
The purpose is not to predict exactly what will happen. It is to help you understand which outcomes are possible under different assumptions.
How the calculation works
The tool first calculates a baseline using the assumptions you enter.
Revenue − Variable costs − Fixed costs
It then applies the percentage changes you specify and calculates the scenario again.
Scenario revenue − Scenario variable costs − Scenario fixed costs
The difference between the two results shows how the scenario changes the simplified model.
What the result can tell you
The comparison can show whether a particular set of assumptions produces higher or lower estimated revenue and profit than the baseline.
It can also reveal situations where revenue increases while profit decreases, such as when costs rise faster than sales.
This makes the tool useful for exploring questions such as:
- What if I increase my price?
- What if sales volume falls?
- What if materials become more expensive?
- What if fixed costs increase?
- What if several of these happen together?
What this calculation does not predict
The model assumes that the percentage changes you enter occur as specified. It does not automatically account for how customers might react to a price change, whether demand will actually change by the amount entered, or whether costs will behave exactly as assumed.
For example, increasing price by 10% does not mean that customers will continue buying the same number of units. Real-world demand may change.
Use the scenario as a way to explore assumptions, not as a guarantee of future financial performance.
This tool provides estimates based on the information entered. It is intended to support thinking and planning, not replace professional accounting, tax, legal, financial, or other advice.