Startup costs are the one-time expenses you pay before your business earns its first euro. They include registration and legal fees, equipment, deposits, initial inventory, website setup, and licences. Unlike running costs, you pay them once. They form the first block of your total capital requirement.
A generated business plan shows startup costs as a table in the financial section, so a bank can see what your first payment goes into.
An example for a two-person consulting firm. Company registration and notary: €1,100. Trade licence: €250. Two laptops: €3,400. Setup advice from an accountant and a lawyer: €1,800. Website and logo: €2,900. Insurance deposit: €600. Office furniture: €1,950. Total startup costs: €12,000.
Three errors show up repeatedly. First, founders list the visible purchases and skip the paperwork: notary fees, translations, permits, and the deposit on a lease. Together these run into several thousand euros in most countries.
Second, they put recurring items in the startup list. A €49 monthly software plan is not a startup cost. Only the one-time setup fee is. Mixing them makes your monthly plan look cheaper than it is.
Third, and this one is expensive, founders treat startup costs as the money they need. They are not. You also need cash to survive the months before revenue arrives. €12,000 in startup costs, a €4,000 monthly burn, and six months to break-even means €24,000 on top, so €36,000 in total.
Ask suppliers for written quotes and use those numbers. Figures you invent at the kitchen table are usually 20 to 40 percent too low.
