All businesses / Digital products

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a digital products: the real numbers

Templates, presets, notion systems, packs. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€150–€900

Hours / week

8–25

First income

~12 wks

Net margin

95%

Saturation

high

Realistic ceiling

€200–€3,000+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

Margin is near total and there's no stock, no shipping, no support queue. The catch is the same as courses: it isn't a product business, it's an audience business. Without somewhere to launch it, a perfect template sells four copies.

The route, in five steps

  1. Make the thing you already built for yourself
  2. Price at €19–49, not €7 — cheap products sell worse
  3. Show the product working, don't describe it
  4. Launch to a small list before any marketplace
  5. Add a second product only once the first sells weekly

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every digital products pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

design toolsales platformpayment platform

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack