"I want to earn a bit extra each month" is a wish. "I need about 4 or 5 enquiries a day" is a plan. The difference is a few minutes with a calculator, and it changes how you spend your selling time.
This post walks through the maths step by step. The numbers in the example are only an illustration, not a promise of what you will earn. Your own results depend on your products, your effort and your customers.
Step 1: Choose a monthly profit goal
Pick a number that matters to you and feels reachable for a first month. You can always raise it later. For this example, imagine a goal of Rs 20,000 profit in a month.
Step 2: Divide by your profit per order
Your profit only reaches your wallet when a parcel is delivered. So the question is: how many delivered orders do you need?
Imagine your products give you about Rs 450 profit per order.
- Rs 20,000 ÷ Rs 450 = about 45 delivered orders.
Step 3: Allow for returns
Not every parcel is accepted. In real Sri Lankan online shops, selling to strangers, 30–37% of parcels came back, and a returned parcel earns nothing.
If you plan for about 1 in 3 parcels coming back, you need to place more orders than you want delivered:
- 45 ÷ 0.67 = about 67 orders placed.
This is the step most beginners skip, and it is why their month falls short.
Step 4: Work out how many enquiries you need
Not every person who asks becomes an order. In real Sri Lankan online shops, about half of enquiries became orders.
- 67 × 2 = about 134 enquiries in the month.
Step 5: Turn it into a day
Spread over 30 days:
- about 4 to 5 enquiries a day
- about 2 to 3 orders placed a day
- about 1 to 2 delivered orders a day
Suddenly the goal looks like something you can work on tonight.
Let the app do the maths
You do not have to do this by hand. Inside the app, MyKade Academy has an earnings planner: you enter a monthly goal and it shows the orders and messages you need per day. Use this post to understand the thinking, and the planner to get your own numbers.
Make the plan fit real life
Work the evenings. In real Sri Lankan online shops, enquiries peaked between 7 and 11 pm, with the busiest hour at 9 pm. Post earlier in the evening and keep that window free to reply.
Use Sundays. Sunday brought about 50% more enquiries than other days. If your week is busy, a strong Sunday can carry part of the load.
Reply fast. About 3 in 4 people who ordered did so within a day, and almost none after 3 days. A slow reply can quietly cost you orders. See reply within an hour.
Confirm every order. Each refusal pushes your "orders needed" number up. A quick confirmation call is the cheapest way to lower it. See how to confirm every order.
A simple daily routine
- Afternoon (15 minutes): pick today's product and share it with a clear price and total.
- 7–11 pm: reply to every enquiry as quickly as you can.
- Before bed: confirm and place the day's orders.
- Once a day: thank customers whose parcels were delivered.
Check in every week
At the end of each week, write down four numbers: enquiries, orders placed, orders delivered and returns. Compare them to your plan.
- Fewer enquiries than planned? Share more, or try a different product.
- Enquiries fine, but few orders? Look at your replies and your prices.
- Orders fine, but many returns? Confirm more carefully and say the full total.
Your plan gets easier over time
Returning customers change the maths. When customers knew the seller and ordered again, about 96% of parcels were delivered, compared with 63–70% for strangers. So as you build regulars, you need fewer orders, and fewer enquiries, for the same goal. Read the message after delivery that brings the next order.
Start with tonight
A big goal feels heavy. Four or five conversations a day does not. Download the MyKade app, open the earnings planner in the Academy, and turn your goal into tonight's to-do list.