About Startup Costs

Business planning with evidence you can inspect.

Startup Costs is an English-language business-planning publication for people evaluating a small business in the United States. We explain the operating format, paid work, opening commitments and cash implications behind a business idea.

Start with a business guide, select a state, and inspect the assumptions before using the calculator. The collection covers 24 defined business formats and 1200 state reference scenarios, alongside practical guides and operating comparisons.

The editorial team.

Daniel Mercer is Senior Editor, Business & Financial Analysis. Our seven-person team covers food and hospitality, home and property services, personal services, retail, local research and financial planning.

Meet the authors and editors. Page-level editorial contacts identify the relevant area of responsibility. An editorial contact is distinct from a byline or a named completed review.

Site operator: Startup Costs · United States.

For editorial questions, corrections and site support: [email protected].

What a published number establishes.

Observed facts identify their source, geography and period. Derived results identify the inputs and calculations. Planning assumptions describe the proposed operation; they are not observed market averages. Our state profiles use BLS occupational wages and Census observations. Some profiles also contain scoped city rules and commercial examples.

A wage-based scenario can show staffing costs and break-even under specified assumptions. It does not establish local rent, customer demand or the amount needed to open at a particular address. Compare the proposed premises, paid roster and service capacity with the relevant sources and quotes.

Read the calculation and research method · Inspect the source library.

Review and corrections.

“Human reviewed” identifies an editorial assessment covered by a recorded human decision. It does not identify an unnamed reviewer or certify every input as a local observation. Named authorship and named full-article reviews require their own attribution records.

Report the exact page, claim and supporting source through Contact and corrections. Material corrections must carry through to the affected calculations and written conclusions.

Financial models and editorial independence.

The site offers paid financial-model workbooks. Offers show the price in USD and link to Shopify checkout. Research sources and calculator inputs are separate from the purchased workbook. Changing a calculator does not transfer those inputs into a purchase.

Read the commercial disclosure. Published estimates are planning information, not personalized financial, tax or legal advice.