Effective hourly wage for owner-operators.
Your monthly profit (EBIT), divided by the hours you actually work. The number most shop owners avoid calculating — because it's often less than minimum wage.
Your numbers
Be honest about hours. Include weekends, admin, payroll, ordering.
Effective hourly wage
The question most owners never calculate.
You took the shop on because you wanted independence, control, the upside. All real reasons. But once a year, it's worth doing the math: what do you actually earn per hour, after all costs, all hours worked?
The formula
Monthly hours = weekly hours × 4.33Effective wage = monthly profit ÷ monthly hours
(4.33 is the average number of weeks per month — closer to reality than 4.)
Why the honest answer matters
If your effective wage is below the employed alternative, you're paying for independence with money. That's a choice — many owners gladly make it. But it should be a conscious choice, not an accident. If the gap is more than ~€5/hour, it's worth asking: can I raise prices, cut hours, hire help, or accept that the model isn't working?
What "hours worked" means
Real hours. Not "scheduled at the shop" — actual time you spend on the business. Include: weekends doing payroll, evenings reconciling, mornings ordering, calls with suppliers, social-media posts. Most owners underestimate this by 30–40%. Set a stopwatch for one week if you're not sure.