How Long Until A Customer Pays You Back
You can be profitable on paper and still run out of money, because the profit arrives months after the spend. This works out how many orders it takes to cover what you paid to win a customer — and roughly how long that is.
Defaulted to 3 because you have not set it. Change it if you know yours; only the months number depends on it.
Fill in the three figures on the left to see how long a customer takes to pay back what you spent winning them.
What this does not account for
- Churn — this assumes the customer keeps buying at the rate you entered
- Whether your margin holds on repeat orders; discounting to win a second order changes it
- The cost of the emails, ads and offers used to bring them back
- Cash flow timing: paying back in four orders is very different at four orders a month and four a year
If you have not worked out what a single sale needs to return, start with break-even ROAS.
Payback is a symptom
What Is Making It That Long?
A long payback is usually acquisition cost, margin or retention — and which one it is decides what to do about it. The Growth Audit takes four minutes.