How much investment is needed to become started?

Hi Nolan,

Entrepreneurship (meaning, I assume, owning your own business) is very difficult to pin down in regard to cost unless you know exactly what you want to do. For example, starting a hot dog cart business can be relatively inexpensive. On the other hand, opening a restaurant that serves hot dogs as one menu item is an entirely different (and more expensive) venture.

Don't worry about the cost this early. Focus on solving a big problem for a lot of people. Let the world give you ideas by observing what problems need solving and act on those! You'll be very successful if you can do that and create a real business around it. Good luck!!

Given that your question has no details about what it is you want to get started in, this is quite an open-ended question. However, having taught classes in entrepreneurship, I have seen "ballpark" estimates on this that make several assumptions. First, that the business is reasonably large-scale. I. e., not a paper route (not a big market there today), not lawn-cutting service (although that could also be a potential growth business, no pun intended). Second, that you would largely be seeking financial support from other sources than just yourself. Third, that you have ambitions to grow the business. Based on these assumptions, the figures I've seen were two hundred to four hundred thousand dollars. How exactly these sums were calculated varied, but from the start-ups I've seen, they seem to be pretty common. So if you start out by doing this by the book, as it were, you start out with a good business plan with a compelling story, thorough research, seek out investment capital from Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, friends and family, etc.. Be mindful that the reason for this is not just to get funding, but to have folks with potential "skin in the game" to bounce your ideas off of and to enable to you further refine your ideas. This should be viewed as a significant investment not only in money, but in your time and dedication. Two hundred thousand for any business of any significance tends to be reasonable. Keep in mind the 86 percent of startups never break even. But also keep in mind that if you fail, no one says you can't keep trying. And every failure teaches you something. Also bear in mind that approximately 70 percent of start ups are based on experience the entrepreneur got from working in another venture. That should give you confidence to keep trying. So, first, business plan and homework.