Startup Cost Calculator

GUIDE

How the startup cost calculator works

Choose an industry preset — SaaS, ecommerce, restaurant, agency, mobile app, or local retail — and the calculator loads a realistic starting set of line items for that kind of business, split into one-time costs (things you pay once, like incorporation or equipment) and monthly costs (things you pay every month, like rent or software). Edit any name or number, add rows for costs specific to your business, or delete ones that don’t apply. The totals, 6-month runway need, and cost breakdown bar update instantly as you type — there’s no “calculate” button because there’s nothing to submit; everything happens in your browser.

CATEGORIES

Typical business startup costs, by category

Business startup costs generally fall into a handful of categories, and how much each one costs depends heavily on the type of business:

• Legal & formation — incorporation, licenses, and permits. Usually $100–$500 for an LLC filed yourself, more for regulated industries like food service or anything needing health/liquor permits, which can run $2,000–$5,000.
• Product or space build — building the thing you sell. For software this is development cost (a few thousand for a simple MVP to $25,000+ for a custom mobile app); for a physical location it’s lease deposits and buildout, which can run $15,000–$100,000+ depending on the space and industry.
• Initial inventory or equipment — stock for ecommerce and retail, kitchen equipment for restaurants, a laptop for a services business. Ranges from a few hundred dollars (services) to tens of thousands (restaurants, retail).
• Branding, website & launch marketing — logo, website or landing page, and the marketing push to get your first customers. Typically $1,000–$5,000 for a lean launch, more if you hire an agency.
• Recurring monthly costs — rent, payroll, software subscriptions, insurance, and ongoing marketing. These are the costs that compound over time and usually matter more to long-term survival than the one-time costs above.

The honest answer to “what does it cost to start a business” is: it depends entirely on which of these categories dominate for your specific business — a solo consultant might spend under $2,000 total, while a restaurant can easily need $150,000+ before opening night.

GOTCHAS

Hidden costs founders forget

The line items above are the obvious ones. These are the ones that catch first-time founders off guard:

• Payment processing fees. Stripe, Square, and similar processors typically take 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction — invisible in your pricing model until it eats a real chunk of monthly revenue.
• Business insurance. General liability, professional liability (E&O), or product liability insurance is easy to skip early and expensive to regret — often $50–$150/month depending on the business.
• Accounting and bookkeeping. Tax filing, bookkeeping software, and an accountant at tax time add up — budget $100–$300/month even for a small business.
• Software subscription creep. Each individual tool looks cheap; a dozen $20–$50/month tools (email, analytics, project management, design) quietly becomes a real monthly line item.
• License and permit renewals. Many licenses aren’t one-time — they renew annually and founders budget for the initial cost but forget the recurring one.
• Equipment replacement and repairs. Laptops break, kitchen equipment fails, POS hardware needs replacing — a maintenance/replacement buffer avoids a cash-flow shock.
• Returns, refunds, and shrinkage. Ecommerce and retail businesses lose a real percentage of revenue to returns and inventory shrinkage — rarely modeled in early cost estimates.
• Paying yourself. The most commonly forgotten cost. If you need to live on the business’s cash, your own salary is a startup cost too — add it to your monthly burn, not as an afterthought.

LEAN VERSION

Lean alternatives, by cost category

Every category above has a cheaper version that doesn’t mean cutting corners on quality:

• Legal. Use an online formation service (Stripe Atlas, LegalZoom, or your state’s own filing site) instead of a law firm for a standard LLC — save the law firm budget for contract review once revenue justifies it.
• Website or app. Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow, or no-code tools replace a custom build for a first version — spend the custom-dev budget only once you know the idea works.
• Inventory. Pre-order, dropship, or print-on-demand instead of bulk-buying stock upfront — it costs more per unit, but it removes the biggest cash risk for an unproven product.
• Equipment. Buy used or lease instead of buying new — restaurant equipment auctions and refurbished tech routinely run 40–60% below retail.
• Space. Coworking space or working from home instead of a leased office; a smaller/cheaper location with room to expand instead of the ideal location on day one.
• Staffing. Contractors and freelancers instead of full-time hires until volume is proven — no payroll tax, benefits, or long-term commitment.
• Marketing. Founder-led content and organic channels instead of a paid ad budget or agency retainer — slower, but it costs time instead of cash while you’re validating.
• Payment processing. Stripe or Square with no monthly fee instead of enterprise payment infrastructure — pay per transaction until volume justifies negotiating rates.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

NEXT

Related free tools