What Are the Monthly Running Costs of a PVC Window Business?
In PVC windows the most expensive cost is a machine that isn’t running. The workshop may stand empty but rent, depreciation and wages run at the same speed; here cost is measured by capacity utilisation. 🪟
Short answer: a mid-sized fabricating business runs at ₺90K to ₺260K a month; on the dealership-plus-fitting model, ₺55K to ₺150K.
Spending lines first, then fixed-versus-variable, three inflating lines, break-even and who this branch is for.
Monthly costs
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Fixed costs
- Variable costs
- The invisible cost: idle capacity
Let’s take it in order.
Fixed costs
Workshop and showroom rent ₺20-60K, crew wages (2-5 people) ₺45-140K, machine depreciation and servicing ₺8-25K, accounting and insurance ₺4-10K. 📊
Variable costs
Industrial electricity ₺6-20K, fitting vehicle fuel ₺5-15K, consumables ₺2-6K.
The invisible cost: idle capacity
In a workshop taking ten jobs a month the machines stand idle most of the day; this unproduced revenue appears in no table yet loads the entire fixed cost onto a handful of jobs.
Fixed or variable?
Heavily fixed.
The weight of the fixed side
Machines and crew produce cost whether work arrives or not, which makes the fabrication model risky without a steady flow of jobs.
Three lines that swell the bill
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- 1. Remakes
- 2. Going to the same house twice
- 3. Absorbing price increases
All three concern how work flows.
1. Remakes
A wrongly measured window is made again; profile, glass and labour are paid twice. A single error can erase that job’s entire profit.
2. Going to the same house twice
If a screen or sill is missing, a second trip follows — travel, vehicle and a day’s work lost.
3. Absorbing price increases
Without a quote validity period, profile and glass rises come out of your own pocket. One sentence removes that risk at no cost.
Where is the break-even point?
The model sets the threshold.
Let’s run the numbers
In the fabrication model, ₺180K in monthly fixed costs at a 35% gross margin needs roughly ₺514K in revenue. On dealership plus fitting, ₺110K in costs at a 26% margin needs ₺423K. Margin mechanics in the PVC windows margin article. 🧭
Who is this cost table for?
Those who can keep work flowing.
Where do these figures come from?
The numbers rest on anonymised business records, open tariffs and independent sector work. Operations differ, so we publish bands instead of single figures. Method on our methodology page. 📐
📝 From the Field
A workshop remade four windows in three months because of wrong measurements. We calculated the loss: it came close to the total profit on fifteen jobs in the same period. Measuring was assigned to one experienced fitter and a customer signature added to every measurement form. Over the next six months remakes were zero; no line changed in the cost table but profit rose clearly. In this branch it isn’t price that protects profit; it’s measurement. 🪟
📖 Key Terms
Capacity utilisation: how much of a machine’s capacity is actually used. Depreciation: the monthly share of a machine’s eroding value. Quote validity period: how many days the given price stays binding. Remake: material spent twice because of a faulty job.
⚡ The Short Version
Monthly cost ₺90-260K fabricating, ₺55-150K as dealer plus fitting. 📊 The invisible line: idle capacity. Three inflating lines: remakes, second trips, absorbing price rises. Break-even: fixed cost ÷ gross margin.
🎯 Next Step
Let’s calculate your utilisation rate and cost per job: quote form · free digital audit. 🤝
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Subcontracting fitting and working the crew on day rates adds flexibility; rent and depreciation don’t flex.
High fixed costs don’t forgive a volatile job flow. For selling from stock, hardware and tools; for earning from labour at smaller scale, glass and mirror. All branches side by side on the hardware sector page.
Divide the windows produced each month by the number your machines could comfortably produce. As that ratio falls, the fixed-cost load per job rises and price competition gets harder.
It removes the fixed crew cost but raises the unit cost; with a volatile job flow it is advantageous overall. With steady work, your own crew is cheaper.
Fifteen days is a balanced period for most businesses; longer quotes leave the price risk with you. On long jobs, buying the material at quote time locks the difference.