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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading small business management expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

This calculator is created to assist you in maximizing your margins. The first step of this calculator is to simply calculate the gross margin of an item. The second step is where you learn how to add gross margin by moving away from absolute margins. As an example, a buyer may calculate a 40% margin with the resulting answer being $13.29. However, research shows that a customer is just as likely to purchase the item if the price is $13.99 as compared to $13.29. The additional 70 cents adds several gross margin points to the price.

Any additional margin you add at this point, falls straight to the bottom line. When you realize that the average business has a single digit net profit, in many cases this exercise can greatly increase the net profit of a business.

Step One: Enter the cost and desired selling price to determine the margin, or enter the cost and desired margin to determine the selling price.
Cost of Item: $
Desired Selling Price: $
Desired Margin: (%) %
Step Two: During the presentation on pricing strategies, Tom demonstrates a technique that will allow a business to make subtle changes in the prices of products to dramatically improve the gross profit and gross margin. To obtain the rounded up price and margin, click on the "final calc" button below. To view the PowerPoint and listen to a recording from the presentation follow this link.
Rounded Up Price: $
Rounded Up Margin: (%) %
Step Three: As you click on the "final calc" button below, the two boxes below will show how much additional gross profit and additional gross margin you will have with each item sold. To further illustrate this enhancement to your price, click on this button to see the price change analysis calculator. You will see that you can sell fewer at the higher price and enjoy the same profit.
Gross Profit Increased by: $
Gross Margin Increased by: (%) %

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tom Shay
PO Box 128
Dardanelle, AR 72834
(727)823-7205

SEPTEMBER 2026
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Small Business

AdvisoriES


Our September advisory is titled, "What do you sell?" My favorite example of someone getting it wrong has an email that starts with, "Sallysellsinsurance@."

 

Yes, that may be the product that Sally sells, but what she is really selling is peace of mind in knowing that if something happens, you are not going to pay the entire cost of the loss.

 

This is but one example. Our September advisory - What do you sell?

Small Business

NewS

Top Story

Yes, selling does include translating features into benefits. But it does not stop there. What if the benefit is not relevant to the customer? Then, there might not be a sale. This is where advantage comes into consideration, and that is our top story of the month.

Article of the Month

When you think about a customer who makes a point to talk to you and your staff, have you ever thought about getting them to talk about your business with their friends? The September Article of the Month shares an idea.


Book of the Month

The Art of the Exit is our suggested book of the month. The author, Jackb Orosz, discusses ways of getting out of your business whether it is retiring or just time to move onto something else.

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.
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BOOK US

With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

Small Business

Advisories

Our September advisory is titled, "What do you sell?" My favorite example of someone getting it wrong has an email that starts with, "Sallysellsinsurance@."

 

Yes, that may be the product that Sally sells, but what she is really selling is peace of mind in knowing that if something happens, you are not going to pay the entire cost of the loss.

 

This is but one example. Our September advisory - What do you sell?

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

Yes, selling does include translating features into benefits. But it does not stop there. What if the benefit is not relevant to the customer? Then, there might not be a sale. This is where advantage comes into consideration, and that is our top story of the month.


Article of the Month

When you think about a customer who makes a point to talk to you and your staff, have you ever thought about getting them to talk about your business with their friends? The September Article of the Month shares an idea.


Book of the Month

The Art of the Exit is our suggested book of the month. The author, Jackb Orosz, discusses ways of getting out of your business whether it is retiring or just time to move onto something else.

 

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.