I do not know if I have understood your question well. If you are asking why the cost of a system (e.g. power plant) is divided to the number of users; this is how the levelized cost of energy is calculated. I might be of more help if you describe your case though.
Thanks Navid for your answer to my question, but I was specifically looking at the net benefits anticipated in a specific activity based on the relationship between projected costs and projected revenue.
The total cost of a project will be a combination of estimated costs from literature, mathematical formulas from reliable references (e.g. NREL), and information gathered from various companies that have built similar technology.
I give you an example on the cost of energy(COE) that you certainly can use it for other applications:
The COE is important in cost analysis for energy production since it is the cost seen by the consumers, given by:
COE=((DRFxICC)+O&M+LRC+Fees)/AEP
where ICC is the Initial Capital Cost, O&M is the operations and maintenance costs, LRC is the levelized replacement costs, AEP is the annual energy production, Fees are the annual insurance; warrantees; etc., and DRF is the discount rate factor. The DRF is given as:
DRF=d/(1-1⁄(1+d)^N )×(1-T*PVDEP)/(1-T)
where d is the discount rate, N is the analysis period, T is the marginal income tax rate, and PVDEP is the present value of deprecation.
Having this COE known, one can have a good estimation on the projected (total) cost. The projected revenue for this case would be how much money is saved if we for example replace a coal power plant with a renewable energy source; or how much it will be saved after having a new power plant that reduces importing energy form other countries or sources.
You can follow a similar concept to estimate the projected costs and projected revenue. I hope this explanation helps.
because you must be able to compare your private cost to the market price of whatever you are producing. On the other hand, your total cost is the same for the different users, what will vary is your net profit from the different users.