I’ve started businesses based on good ideas many times. Some of those times I’ve made money but couldn’t scale, some things failed due to no knowledge of the industry and a lack of a mentor, and some were solutions in search of problems. None of them was properly funded from the beginning. My question to those who are successfully living off the profits of their business is – did you start this business with less than 50k of seed money (no matter where it came from), and did it become profitable in less than 3 years? From where I sit, it looks incredibly difficult to achieve this.
Have you started a business that was successful inside of 3 years without at least 50k of startup money?
byu/Standard_Student5344 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Standard_Student5344
16 Comments
There was a very similar post here 2 days ago, you can search it up in case this one doesn’t blow up. Same question, same amount of money
Only something like 10% of new businesses actually make it to the 3 year mark. I’m not sure what the stats on investment in those are. BUT investment is often a proxy for the credibility of the entrepreneur. If they have a compelling business case that is seen as a good bet, odds are someone will be willing to invest.
So, most businesses that start out with very little seed money very well may have shitty business plans, for many of the reasons you list and more.
100%. My most successful pivot came from starting with very little cash, but a skillset I’d already built. I didn’t dump 50k into gear or ads, I doubled down on relationships, did great work, reinvested small profits back into the business, and focused on one clear service. For me it was photography, but the principle applies anywhere: you don’t always need huge capital, you need leverage (skill, network, or a unique angle). The hardest part is resisting the urge to scale too fast before the foundation is strong.
In my view amount of investment you need to start a business depends on the nature of the business you’re trying to set up. A good question to ask when your thinking about setting up is ‘Why do I need investment?’ Then, when you’ve answered that question the next thing to ask is ‘How much investment will I need?’ Once you have an answer to those two questions go and talk with other experienced entrepreneurs and ask their advice.
Yes started two with less the $1k spent, sold one earlier this year and the other is still going.
Yes, it’s definitely possible to build a profitable business under $50k in under 3 years but it often comes down to leveraging automation and smart tech early on. For example, in my experience using Dograh AI, I’ve been able to validate and scale efficiently while cutting burn rate and accelerating growth.
Started a bespoke tattoo parlor 1.5 year ago, we rent space to artists and cover all their equipment and inventory needs, it cost around 18k, cashflow positive since month 4.
Wife is tattoo artist and I am a COO in an IT firm with a background in digital marketing and SEO. Initial customers came from her socials and local SEO. Now it’s mostly customers referring other customers.
Our strategy is to make sure customers feels at home and taken care of. Most tattoo studio feels intimidating to people.
We also handpick the artists that works with us making sure they are a great fit with the team, we listen to feedbacks and provide everything we can to imporve their quality of life.
I can give you the best idea to make money and with 10k is more than enough. You will make your money back in 3 to 4 months.
Started 3.5 years ago, Think I had 1000 euros to my name.
Now 3.5 years later doing roughly 2m /year on a 35% margin.
It was hard and still is.
Wicked life
I have tried and failed, but after failing multiple times, i came to know that few things are important even before you start
– You should research about your topic
– You should market first even before building
– Start with small
You just need money to buy a domain and few bucks to run ads to check the feasibility of the product
Work harder.
Yeah, it’s def possible, tho it isn’t easy and you end up wearing every hat in the business. I started something with under $5k, just my laptop and free online tools, and it started turning a profit before year two.
The trick was keeping costs almost nonexistent, focusing on what people actually needed, and constantly moving. Sometimes that meant doing sales and support myself and other times just figuring stuff out as I went along. Scaling is way slower without funding but you stay scrappy and learn fast.
Yes. I’m a consultant. Grossed $120k my first year $180k my second and $199k my third
Yes, and I have many friends who started their businesses with less than 50k.
I started mine with slightly under 10k, and only injected 50k for expansion after 2+ years.
There is no need for 50k or a 100k to start a business, that is rubbish. A real entrepreneur will find the leanest and fastest way to validate and execute the idea.
Yes. Started with $100 put into the business and was profitable in one month after the plugin went live. Now it’s over $25k MRR after 2 years. It’s a B2B SaaS integration.
The key to not having a ton of seed money is having enough saved to quit your job and work on something full time for 6 months to a year. That way your living expenses are covered.
The other important thing is to build something for businesses and not consumers. Businesses have money and will pay a good bit if you’re solving a real pain point. If you sell to consumers, it will take a very long time and a ton of users to be profitable.
Yes, there are a ton of examples where people started a business with no money let alone funding.
Funding and profitability does not equal success. There are plenty of examples of people getting funding of more than $50K and are out of business in three years.
There is a show called Dragon’s Den, what is one of the primary questions of investors on the panel: Have you sold anything? If you yes, it is a start to a conversation but not necessirally ending in funding.
So, where to start? Is there a problem that your target audience and don’t want ‘badly.’ Do you have a solution for it, great. Of course if you price it too high, too low, you might not get a sale. If you are too aggressive in selling, no sale. There are a lot of little things to become profitable in three years.
That said of the 80% who fail after five years, more than 50% of them were selling something nobody wants.