06 / 15 · GLOSSARY
06 / 15Dificultad

Safety Margin

How much your sales can fall before you start losing money. A high margin indicates a robust business.

Analogía

With a 30% SM, your sales can drop 30% and you're still not losing. Below 15%, be careful.

Ejemplo numérico

Margin > 30%: very robust. 15–30%: acceptable, monitor closely. Below 15%: risk zone — a bad season knocks you out. Forecast sales: 300 units/month. BEP: 200 units/month. → Margin = (300 − 200) / 300 = 33%. Sales can drop up to 33% before you start losing.

Fórmula
SM = (Sales − BEP) / Sales × 100

When to use it

After Break-even, to measure how much cushion you have against a sales drop, recession or new competitor.

Run your own case

Apply this metric to the project you're evaluating. Just 3 minutes and 6 basic data points.

Start analysis →

Definitions aligned with Blank & Tarquin, Engineering Economy, 8th edition — McGraw-Hill.