Costs, Price and Profit Activity | Starting a Business Lesson

Q: How can I help English learners with the vocabulary?

Pre-teach four terms with images: startup cost (a printer), per-item cost (a pack of labels), profit , and break-even . Students can label the images in each quadrant with the word and its home-language translation. Provide the two formulas as sentence frames, such as "Each pack costs ___ to make, so we earn ___ on each sale."

Costs, Price, and Profit - Entrepreneurship Example

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Lesson Plan Overview

Template and Class Instructions

Lesson Plan Overview

A business that loses money on every sale is a hobby. In this activity, students sort their costs into two kinds, set a price, and find out how many sales it takes before the business stops losing money. The math stays simple (addition, subtraction, multiplication, one division), but the ideas are the same ones every business owner uses.

Startup costs (fixed): paid once, no matter how many you sell: a printer, a website, a booth.
Per-item costs (variable): paid for every item sold: materials, packaging, shipping.
Profit per item = price − per-item cost.
Break-even = startup costs ÷ profit per item (round up).

Before You Begin

Research: students look up real prices online for every cost and note the source.
Time needed: 45–60 minutes.
Price: students justify their price in three ways: what it costs to make, what competitors charge, and what their customers said they would pay.
Assessment: correct calculations, costs backed by real prices, and a price justified by evidence.

Example: TagBack

STARTUP COSTS (ONE TIME)	PER-ITEM COSTS (EACH FAMILY PACK)
Label printer: $100 QR code website for one year: $24 Total: $124	25 iron-on labels: $2.50 Envelope and printed instructions: $1.00 Total: $3.50
PRICE AND WHY	PROFIT AND BREAK-EVEN
$10 per family pack. Store-bought name labels cost $12–$20, and 31 parents pre-ordered at $10.	$10 − $3.50 = $6.50 profit per pack. $124 ÷ $6.50 = 19.1, so 20 packs to break even.

Discussion

What happens to break-even if the price drops to $8? If a supplier raises labels to $4? Have students change one number and explain the effect. Personal finance classes can connect this to budgeting: break-even is a budget for a business.

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Template and Class Instructions

(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)

Student Instructions

Create a T-chart that shows whether your business can make money.

Click "Use This Template" from the assignment.
Top left: list your startup costs (paid once) and add them up.
Top right: list your per-item costs (paid for every item) and add them up.
Bottom left: write your price and three reasons for it.
Bottom right: work out profit per item (price − per-item cost) and break-even (startup costs ÷ profit per item, rounded up).
Add images for the items and costs, then save and submit your storyboard.

Costs, Price, and Profit - Entrepreneurship Template

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Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 6-12

Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)

Type of Assignment Individual, Partner, or Group

Type of Activity: T-Charts

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Lesson Plan Overview

Startup costs (fixed): paid once, no matter how many you sell: a printer, a website, a booth.
Per-item costs (variable): paid for every item sold: materials, packaging, shipping.
Profit per item = price − per-item cost.
Break-even = startup costs ÷ profit per item (round up).

Before You Begin

Research: students look up real prices online for every cost and note the source.
Time needed: 45–60 minutes.
Price: students justify their price in three ways: what it costs to make, what competitors charge, and what their customers said they would pay.
Assessment: correct calculations, costs backed by real prices, and a price justified by evidence.

Example: TagBack

STARTUP COSTS (ONE TIME)	PER-ITEM COSTS (EACH FAMILY PACK)
Label printer: $100 QR code website for one year: $24 Total: $124	25 iron-on labels: $2.50 Envelope and printed instructions: $1.00 Total: $3.50
PRICE AND WHY	PROFIT AND BREAK-EVEN
$10 per family pack. Store-bought name labels cost $12–$20, and 31 parents pre-ordered at $10.	$10 − $3.50 = $6.50 profit per pack. $124 ÷ $6.50 = 19.1, so 20 packs to break even.

Discussion

Copy Activity

Template and Class Instructions

(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)

Student Instructions

Create a T-chart that shows whether your business can make money.

Click "Use This Template" from the assignment.
Top left: list your startup costs (paid once) and add them up.
Top right: list your per-item costs (paid for every item) and add them up.
Bottom left: write your price and three reasons for it.
Bottom right: work out profit per item (price − per-item cost) and break-even (startup costs ÷ profit per item, rounded up).
Add images for the items and costs, then save and submit your storyboard.

More options

Copy This Storyboard

Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 6-12

Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)

Type of Assignment Individual, Partner, or Group

Type of Activity: T-Charts

Copy Activity

How to Teach Costs, Price, and Profit with Storyboard That

Assign the T-chart template

Create an assignment from the Costs, Price, and Profit template so each student or team starts with the four labeled quadrants.

Have students research real costs

Students look up prices online for every startup and per-item cost and note the source, as TagBack did for its $100 label printer.

Calculate profit and break-even

Students fill the bottom quadrants: price minus per-item cost for profit, then startup costs divided by profit per item, rounded up.

Review the math and sources

Open submissions from your teacher dashboard, check each calculation and source, and return storyboards that need a corrected number.

Compare results as a class

Project a few storyboards and change one number together to show how price and costs move the break-even point.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Costs, Price, and Profit Activity

How should I grade the costs and profit T-chart?

Score each of the four quadrants 0-2 points. A 2 for startup and per-item costs means every cost has a real price and a source. A 2 for price means three reasons, as in TagBack's $10 pack: cost, store labels at $12-$20, and 31 pre-orders. A 2 for profit means correct math, including rounding 19.1 up to 20 packs.

How long does this activity take?

Allow 45-60 minutes. Most of the time goes to researching real prices online, not the math. To save time, let students look up costs for homework, or give middle schoolers a short price list to choose from. Students who finish early can test a second price and compare break-even points, such as TagBack at $8 versus $10.

How do I adapt the math for grades 6-8 and 9-12?

In grades 6-8, keep to one product and simple prices, and let students use calculators for break-even. In grades 9-12, add a monthly cost such as TagBack's $24 website spread over twelve months, ask for profit margin as a percentage ($6.50 / $10 = 65%), and have students graph total cost against total revenue to show the break-even point.

How can I help English learners with the vocabulary?

Pre-teach four terms with images: startup cost (a printer), per-item cost (a pack of labels), profit, and break-even. Students can label the images in each quadrant with the word and its home-language translation. Provide the two formulas as sentence frames, such as "Each pack costs ___ to make, so we earn ___ on each sale."

What discussion questions extend the activity?

Ask "what if" questions that change one number. If TagBack drops its price to $8, break-even rises from 20 to 28 packs. If the 25 labels cost $4 instead of $2.50, profit falls to $5 and break-even rises to 25 packs. Then ask: would Jordan rather sell fewer packs at a higher price or more at a lower one? Students defend their answer with numbers.