Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Pricing, With the Math Shown
What Should You Charge in Winter Garden?
Charge from your costs up, never from the competitor's price down. A price copied from down the road can keep you busy and still lose money every month.
What to charge in Winter Garden comes down to what your costs, your time, and your customer will support, in that order. Start with what one unit costs you. Add your share of rent and your own pay. That is your floor. Then decide how far above the floor your customer will go. Dr. Paul, Winter Garden business consultant, has run this math with 1,000+ owners. Below, he runs it on a made-up Winter Garden bakery, step by step.
Questions first? Call or text (321) 948-9588.
Last Updated: 10/29/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Show the Math
The Four Prices, Worked on a Made-Up Winter Garden Bakery
Say you bake cookies and sell them by the dozen from a small shop near historic downtown. You plan to sell 900 dozen a month. The numbers are illustrative. Swap in your own.
What one dozen costs you to make
| Ingredients per dozen | $4.20 |
| Box, liner, and sticker | $1.30 |
| Labor: 15 minutes at $20 an hour, your own time included | $5.00 |
| Unit cost per dozen | $10.50 |
Add each dozen's share of the overhead
| Rent and occupancy costs | $3,400 |
| Utilities, insurance, software | $1,200 |
| Marketing | $600 |
| Equipment loan payment | $700 |
| Business tax receipts, licenses, bookkeeping (monthly average) | $300 |
| Owner's pay for running the business, on top of the baking wage | $1,000 |
| Monthly overhead | $7,200 |
| Overhead per dozen: $7,200 divided by 900 dozen | $8.00 |
| Unit cost plus overhead: $10.50 + $8.00 | $18.50 |
| Break-even price after 3 percent card fees: $18.50 divided by 0.97 | $19.07 |
Add the margin you planned for
| Target profit margin | 20% |
| Price that leaves 20 percent after card fees: $18.50 divided by (0.97 minus 0.20) | $24.03 |
| Profit price, rounded | $24.00 |
What the customer will gladly pay for something special
Custom party boxes, decorated for a birthday or a wedding shower, cost you a little more labor but carry far more value to the buyer. Say you price them at $32. If 30 percent of your volume sells as custom boxes and 70 percent at $24, your average price is ($32 x 0.30) + ($24 x 0.70) = $26.40 a dozen, well clear of the floor.
That is the whole ladder. Price 1 and Price 2 are math. Price 3 is a decision. Price 4 is knowing your customer. You need all four before you set the number on the sign. The craft is yours; the ladder is the business side Dr. Paul helps you build.
Ready for Help?
Four Ways to Work With Dr. Paul
01 · Start Here
Business Consulting
Bring your costs. Dr. Paul helps you find your unit cost, your break-even price, and the price your customer will support, on your real numbers.
Business consulting →02
Business Plan Writing
Pricing settled and you need funding or a lease? Dr. Paul writes the plan and the five-year financials around prices that hold up.
Business plan writing →03
Fractional CFO/COO
Already open and busy but not profitable? Dr. Paul reviews margins with you every month, part time, so you can stay on the work.
Fractional CFO and COO →04
Small Business Education
Free guides on pricing, margins, and break-even for owners who learned the trade first. Prefer to write your own plan? See the templates.
Free guides →Busy vs Profitable
Same Bakery, Two Prices: Matching the Competitor vs Pricing From Your Costs
Now say the shop down the road sells a dozen for $18, and you are tempted to match it. Here is what that one decision does to the same bakery.
| Per dozen, same costs | Match the competitor: $18 | Price from your costs: $24 |
|---|---|---|
| Card fees at 3 percent | $0.54 | $0.72 |
| Left after fees and unit cost | $6.96 | $12.78 |
| Dozens needed each month to cover $7,200 overhead | 1,035 | 564 |
| Dozens a day, open 26 days | About 40 | About 22 |
| Result at your planned 900 dozen | Lose about $936 a month | Keep about $4,302 a month |
At $18 you are busier than ever and losing money every month. At $24 you could sell fewer dozens than planned and still clear your costs. That is why the competitor's price is a reference point, not a plan. If you are still testing whether the idea works at all, the Orlando viability test uses the same three-step math.
Winter Garden Fine Print
Three Winter Garden Rules That Can Change What You Charge
Small rules move Price 2. These come straight from the city's business tax FAQ.
Home Means Office Only
The city says residential districts only allow an administrative office at the home address. If customers need to come to you, you may need commercial space, and that rent goes into your overhead per unit.
Every Location Is Separate
Each location needs its own Business Tax Receipt, and moving to a new city address typically carries a 10 percent transfer fee. A second spot doubles the paperwork line, not just the rent.
Timing Matters
Renewals are due by September 30. The fee is prorated after April 1, and renewals paid in January or later pick up a 25 percent penalty. The city takes cash or check only.
Source: City of Winter Garden, Business Tax Receipt FAQs.
None of these alone will move what to charge in Winter Garden by much. Together, they decide whether your plan is a home office with the selling done somewhere else, or a storefront with rent baked into every dozen. Settle that first. Then price.
Myth vs Fact
Four Pricing Myths That Keep Owners Broke
"I have to be cheaper to win customers."
Cheapest is a race you win by going out of business last. Win on quality, speed, or convenience, and price for it.
"My time is free. I'm the owner."
If you leave your labor out of unit cost, your price only works as long as you work for nothing. Count it at a real wage.
"More volume will fix thin margins."
If each sale loses money, more sales lose more money. Fix the price or the cost first. Then chase volume.
"Once I set a price, I can't raise it."
Costs go up every year. Review prices at least once a year, raise them in small steps, and tell regulars why.
The Winter Garden Side
What Winter Garden Adds to Your Price
Your price has to carry local costs and fit local customers. Three Winter Garden facts belong in the math.
Historic Downtown and Plant Street
A walkable downtown can bring foot traffic, and downtown space may cost more per square foot than a strip center. That cost lands in Price 2. Run it before you fall in love with the address.
Horizon West Growth
Horizon West, which borders Winter Garden to the south, grew from 14,000 people in 2010 to 58,101 in the 2020 Census. New rooftops could mean new customers. They may also mean new competitors, so price on value, not on being cheapest.
Business Tax Receipt First
Every business at a Winter Garden address needs a city Business Tax Receipt before opening. Commercial sites may need a land use review, which can take up to ten business days, and a Fire Department inspection. Then comes the Orange County receipt.
Sources: City of Winter Garden, Business Tax; 2010 estimate and 2020 Census count for Horizon West, as reported on Wikipedia.
Three local options worth knowing: the City Business Tax Division at City Hall, 300 W Plant Street, for the receipt and renewal dates (the tax year runs October 1 to September 30); the West Orange Chamber of Commerce for local networking; and the Florida SBDC at UCF for no-cost workshops. Your price is your math, and that is where business consulting with Dr. Paul earns its keep.
From the Book
Dr. Paul's Insight: Busy Is Not the Same as Paid
"How can we sell out and still be broke?"
"Doc!" said Frankie, from the window, flour to the elbows. "You see this? Sold out Saturday. Sold out Sunday. Ran out of sauce at noon. Busiest weekend in the history of the forest. The paper said so."
"Congratulations," said Doctor Owl.
Chapter 11 · Sold Out and Broke: A Fox's Busiest Month
Dr. Paul's take: Sold out and still short is one of the most common signs of a price set by feel. A line out the door can hide a price that barely covers the cost of each sale, plus everything the sale needs that is not in the box. In Winter Garden, where new rooftops keep bringing new customers, a weak price may stay hidden longer, right up until a slow month or a new hire exposes it. Cost one unit first. Then price above it, on purpose. Dr. Paul builds that into step one of Organize-Plan-Grow™, because every number after it depends on it.
Read the Book
Cost Per Unit, Margin, and Break-Even, Taught Through Stories
Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series · Book 2
Accounting and Finance for Small Businesses
The four prices on this page come straight from the book: cost of goods sold, overhead and profit margin, and break-even, each taught through one Fabled Forest owner at a time with the arithmetic shown. Part of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series.
Get Book 2 on Amazon →FAQ
Pricing Questions Winter Garden Owners Ask
How do I figure out what to charge for my product or service?
Should I just match what other Winter Garden businesses charge?
What is a break-even price?
What do I need from the city before I start selling in Winter Garden?
Can Dr. Paul help me set my prices?
Know your floor before you print the menu.
Keep Going
More for Winter Garden and Central Florida Owners
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Consultant, Author & Educator | 14+ Years | 1,000+ Clients Served
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA is a business consultant, author, and educator, and the founder of Quality Business Plan. He works with Winter Garden and Central Florida owners on business planning, financial modeling, fractional CFO services, and the everyday problems of businesses that depend too much on their owners. He is the creator of Dr. Paul's Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy, author of numerous published books on Amazon including Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series, and publisher of over 1,000 business-focused videos on YouTube. He has taught as an adjunct college instructor and teaches in Florida public schools.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, accounting, or other professional advice. The bakery example is illustrative, with rounded figures. Local rules and Census figures are cited to their sources and change over time; confirm current requirements with the City of Winter Garden. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.