How much does it really cost to start an online business?

Short, honest answer: usually between €50 and €500 — and the cheapest kind, selling a service, can start for less than a tank of fuel. The type of business matters far more than the size of your ambition. Here are conservative European estimates for the must-haves, by type, plus the list of things you genuinely don't need to buy yet.

The baseline almost every online business pays

Domain name: ~€10/year. The one purchase nobody regrets.
Website or landing page: €0–€10/month. Free tiers and cheap builders cover a one-page site that does everything a first customer needs.
Taking payments: no monthly fee on standard processors — typically around 1.5–3% plus a small fixed fee per transaction. You only pay when you earn, which is exactly the cost structure you want at the start.
Booking, scheduling, or email tool: €0–€30/month. Free tiers handle your first dozens of clients or subscribers comfortably.
Business registration: country-specific and unavoidable. In much of the EU a basic sole-trader registration runs €0–€60; check your local rules before your first invoice, not after.

Baseline for the first three months: roughly €10–€150, before anything specific to your business type.

What it costs by business type

Service business (coaching, freelancing, consulting, tutoring) — €50–€150

The cheapest start there is, because the product is your time and skill. Domain, simple site, free booking tool, payment link — done. The real cost is unpaid hours spent on outreach before the calendar fills. If money is tight, start here: services generate cash that can fund a product later.

Digital products (templates, guides, courses) — €100–€400

Add a checkout or storefront tool (free–€30/month, or a marketplace that takes roughly 5–10% per sale) and, if you're recording, a decent microphone for €60–€100. The hidden cost isn't money — it's the weeks of building before the first euro arrives, which is why validating the topic first matters more than the toolkit.

E-commerce & handmade — €300–€1,500

The expensive one, because physical goods mean money out before money in: materials or initial inventory (the biggest line by far), marketplace fees (small per-listing charges plus roughly 5–10% of each sale), and shipping supplies at €50–€150. Product photos can be a phone, daylight, and a €20 backdrop — they don't need to be a €500 shoot. Start with the smallest batch you can credibly sell.

Content (newsletter, blog, video) — €0–€200

Cheapest in cash, most expensive in time. Tools are nearly free; the honest cost is months of consistent unpaid work before monetization is realistic. Treat content as a long game or as the marketing arm of one of the businesses above — not as the fast path to income, because it isn't one.

What you can skip at the start

Logo and branding packages (€300–€2,000 saved). Your business name set in a clean font is a brand. Customers buy the offer, not the kerning.
Paid ads before validation. Ads amplify an offer that already converts; they cannot fix one that doesn't. Money spent advertising an untested offer is the most common write-off in first businesses.
Custom development (€2,000–€10,000 saved). Site builders and templates cover year one for almost everyone. Pay developers when a real limitation costs you real customers.
Premium tool subscriptions. Start on free tiers; upgrade when you hit a limit that actually hurts. Most never do in the first six months.

Where the money should actually go first

In order:

Whatever lets people pay you. A payment link and a booking page remove the friction between “yes” and money. This is the first €10–€30 well spent.
Getting in front of buyers — which at the start costs time, not money: direct outreach, your network, the communities where your customers already are. A 48-hour validation test costs €0 and tells you more than any branding ever will.
Delivering well for the first customers. Materials, the better tool, the extra hour — referrals come from delivery, and referrals are the cheapest acquisition you will ever have.
Only then, small paid tests. Once something converts organically, €5–€10/day experiments — not a launch campaign.

The pattern behind every line above: spend on what creates customers, not on what makes you feel like a company.

Common questions

Can you start an online business with no money?

A service business, almost: free tiers cover a landing page, booking, and payment links, so your only hard costs may be a domain (around €10/year) and whatever business registration your country requires. What you can't avoid spending is time — on outreach and on delivering well. Product and inventory businesses genuinely need some capital.

Where do first-time founders waste the most money?

On looking like a business before being one: logo and branding packages, custom-built websites, premium tool subscriptions, and paid ads for an unvalidated offer. None of those produce a first customer. Spend on them after real people have paid you — once you know what's worth amplifying.

How much should I budget for marketing at the start?

Close to €0. First customers for most online businesses come from direct outreach, your existing network, and communities where your buyers already are — which cost time, not money. Paid ads make sense only after something converts organically; then start with small tests of €5–€10 a day, not a launch campaign.

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