All businesses / Labour supply

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

Start a labour supply: the real numbers

Supplying crews to sites and venues. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€15,000–€70,000

Hours / week

35–60

First income

~14 wks

Net margin

20%

Saturation

medium

Realistic ceiling

€1,200–€12,000+

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

Scales faster than almost anything here: every extra worker is a few euros an hour, and a hundred workers is a real business. It is a cashflow machine in reverse — you fund the wages, and one late-paying client can end it.

The route, in five steps

  1. Payroll float is the business: you pay weekly, clients pay monthly
  2. Check every right-to-work document — fines here are ruinous
  3. Charge a margin per hour, €4-8, and hold it
  4. Hospitality and construction are where the volume is
  5. One client over 40% of revenue is a loaded gun

What you'll need to buy

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

payroll floatemployer insurancecompliance checksscheduling software

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