How much does it cost to start a one-person business?

For a solo digital business the launch cost is usually small — often a few hundred euros for registration, a domain, a basic site and the first tools — and the recurring cost is a handful of subscriptions. The number most people forget is runway: the months of personal living costs you need covered before the business pays you. That is typically the largest figure by far, and it is why this calculator shows it separately.

Which one-person business is cheapest to start?

Service businesses (freelancing, consulting) and content or newsletter businesses are the cheapest to launch — a domain, a couple of tools and registration. E-commerce needs stock or samples and an ad test budget, and micro-SaaS needs hosting and AI coding tools. But cheapest to launch is not cheapest to succeed: the real cost is the time until revenue, which depends on distribution far more than on the tool stack.

Are these numbers accurate for my country?

They are lean estimates for a solo start in Europe, not quotes — registration fees, insurance and accounting vary by country and legal form, and every line is editable so you can enter your real figures. Use the EU setup finder to see which structure fits your country, and confirm official fees locally. This is planning arithmetic, not financial advice.

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What does it actually cost to start a one-person business?

Businesses you can run alone, without hiring anyone. Pick the type, adjust the lines to your reality, and see three honest numbers: what it costs to launch, what it costs per month to run — and the one almost everyone forgets, your runway.

What will you run alone? Currency Months until you expect real revenue Your personal living costs per month (rent, food, everything — this drives the runway)

One-off launch costs (edit any line)

Monthly running costs

Know your number? Set the business up clean.

The cost side is the easy half. The EU Clean-Start Kit is the other half — structure, registration, VAT, invoicing and banking done the clean, legal way, with editable templates and the 7-step Playbook. €49, instant download.

See the EU Clean-Start Kit — €49 →

Not ready? One honest letter a month on running a one-person business in Europe:

More free tools: the EU setup finder (which structure fits your country), the tax set-aside calculator, and the freelance rate calculator. The bigger picture of what one person can now build alone is in the one-person production era.