Not a percentage of revenue. That rule of thumb is where most budgets go wrong. This works backwards from what one customer is genuinely worth to you.
Question 1 of 6
What does one new customer pay you?
The average first sale. If you sell a retainer or repeat, use the first 12 months.
€
Question 2 of 6
Of that, what is left after you deliver it?
Gross margin. Materials, subcontractors, the hours to fulfil. Not rent or salaries. Best guess is fine.
Question 3 of 6
How many new customers do you want a month?
A real number you could actually service. Not a fantasy figure.
customers / month
Question 4 of 6
Of the people you actually speak to, how many buy?
Real conversations, not enquiries. If you talk to ten and two buy, that is 20%.
Question 5 of 6
Of the enquiries you get, how many turn into a real conversation?
Someone fills in a form or messages you. What share become an actual call or meeting? Most businesses overestimate this.
Question 6 of 6
How much of the profit on a first sale will you reinvest to win it?
This is the real decision. Spend more and you grow faster but bank less today.
Your daily ad budget
€0
to hit your goal, at a price per lead that still leaves you profit
Most you can pay per lead
€0
Above this, the customer costs more than the profit you agreed to spend
Most you can pay per customer
€0
Enquiries needed a month
0
Before you can judge an ad
0 days
Spend at least three times your target cost per lead before you decide anything
The working, so you can check it
One customer pays you
Gross profit on that
Share you reinvest to win it
So one customer can cost you up to
Enquiries needed per customer
So one enquiry can cost up to
Customers wanted a month
Monthly budget
One email with your figures. No sequence unless you ask for one.
This is one number out of five that decides whether paid ads work for you
Budget is the one people get wrong first, but it is not the one that kills most accounts. That is usually the offer, or the follow-up gap between an enquiry and a conversation you just estimated in question five.
The Leak Number scorecard finds which of the five is costing you most. Six questions, three minutes.