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Guides

Short, practical explainers behind the concepts each calculator uses.

Pricing guides

Margin vs. Markup

Why these two numbers are easy to confuse and costly to mix up.

Billable Utilization

How to estimate the share of your time you can actually bill.

How to Price a Service Business

A step-by-step walkthrough of the full pricing process.

Promotions guides

Effective Discount, Explained

Why the discount % you see isn't always the discount you get.

BOGO vs. Percent Off

Two promotions that look similar but behave very differently.

How Much Can I Discount?

Finding your maximum safe discount before you lose money.

A practical workflow

Read the concept, test the numbers, then compare reality

A calculator gives you a consistent answer to the inputs you provide. These guides explain what those inputs mean, which assumptions have the greatest effect and where a mathematically correct result can still be a poor business decision.

  1. Start with the guide when a term such as margin, markup or utilization is unfamiliar.
  2. Run more than one scenario. A conservative case and an optimistic case reveal how sensitive the decision is.
  3. Record the outcome. Compare the estimate with actual hours, costs, orders or profit and update the assumptions next time.

SmallBizMath guides use plain language and transparent formulas. They are educational planning material, not accounting, tax, legal or financial advice.