Free Tool
Solopreneur Runway Calculator
Runway is how many months your savings can cover the gap between what you spend and what your business brings in. Enter your savings, monthly burn, and current revenue to see your runway, a projected date it might be safe to quit your day job, and a 6-month buffer target to aim for first.
Why 6 months keeps coming up: one small business owner shared that they were advised to hold 6 months of expenses in savings before resigning to run their business full time, a benchmark echoed across other founder threads. Others who quit with far less cash on hand described it working out anyway, but only after their business had already found real, paying demand. Both threads point to the same conclusion: the buffer matters, but so does what you've already proven before you rely on it.
Cash you could put toward living and business costs.
Rent, food, insurance, debt payments.
Software, contractors, ads, hosting.
What the business brings in today, on average.
Leave at 0 for a conservative, no-growth estimate.
How this calculator works
Each month, we subtract your revenue from your combined personal and business costs to find the gap your savings need to cover. If you enter a growth rate, revenue compounds monthly until it either closes that gap (your safe-to-quit date) or your savings run out first (your runway). The 6-month war chest target is 6 times your combined monthly costs, a buffer size solopreneurs commonly cite as a benchmark before going full-time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much savings do I need before I quit my job to go full-time?
A common benchmark solopreneurs point to is 6 months of combined personal and business expenses saved before making the jump. This calculator uses that same benchmark for its suggested war-chest target, then shows how your actual savings compare.
What counts as 'burn rate' for a solopreneur?
Your monthly personal living costs (rent, food, insurance, debt payments) plus your monthly business costs (software, contractors, ads, hosting). Together they're what you need to cover every month, with or without a day job.
How is runway different from a 'safe to quit' date?
Runway is how many months your current savings can cover the gap between your costs and your revenue before hitting zero. The safe-to-quit date is the month your projected revenue growth is expected to cover your costs on its own, so you're no longer burning savings at all.
Should I factor in revenue growth when calculating runway?
Yes, if you have a reasonable estimate. Even a modest monthly growth rate changes the math significantly over 6-12 months. Leave it at 0% for a conservative, no-growth estimate, or enter your recent average month-over-month growth for a more realistic projection.
What if my business already covers my costs?
If your current revenue already covers your personal and business costs, your runway is effectively unlimited and this calculator will tell you that directly, rather than showing a misleading number.
Does this calculator account for taxes or irregular income?
No. It's a directional planning tool based on the numbers you enter, not a tax or accounting projection. Solopreneur income is often irregular month to month, so treat the output as a planning range and revisit it whenever your numbers change meaningfully.
Is it risky to quit without a full 6-month buffer?
It can be, but plenty of solopreneurs have made the jump with less. What tends to matter most is whether the business has already been validated with real paying customers, not just the size of the buffer. A smaller buffer with real traction can be safer than a large buffer with none.
Related resources
Cash flow planning
A runway number is a plan starter, not a decision.
Mustard Seed helps solopreneurs pressure-test the revenue side of this math, so the growth plan behind your safe-to-quit date is more than a guess.
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