StartMargin / Start with €20,000
100 of our 115 businesses begin under €20,000 — that is 87% of the database. Below is every one of them, with what it really takes: the capital, the hours a week, the weeks before the first euro, and the monthly ceiling once it is running properly.
These 10 need more than €10,000 to begin, so they only appear at this level. If you are deciding whether to save further before starting, this is the list that answer depends on.
Of these 100, only 54 can grow beyond what you can personally do in a week — by hiring, or by adding units. The other 46 are capped by your own hours no matter how well they go, which means the ceiling you see is the ceiling you get. The highest here is Accountancy practice at €9,000+ a month.
Average net margin across this budget: 64%. Sorted by what each can realistically reach, not by what it costs.
Returns, accounts and advice
Support and systems on contract
Placing people, paid on success
Supplying crews to sites and venues
Sites and apps for small businesses
Carers placed with clients at home
Workshops delivered to companies
Ads and content on retainer
Crews on nightly office contracts
Treatment room, by appointment
Domestic and small commercial installation and testing
Repairs, installations and boiler work for households
Subscription software for a narrow niche
Fitting domestic systems
Commercial cover, renewed yearly
Small premises selling memberships rather than hours
Custom automated workflows
Selling homes on commission
Small-group and business classes
Arranging loans, paid by commission
Day boarding with a fixed site
Fixed premises with chairs you can rent out as you grow
Ad reels produced with AI tools
Food for weddings and companies
Coaching for one specific test
Furniture, marquees, lighting
Your own brand, sold on Amazon
One product, made and wholesaled
Rebuilding sites for local businesses
Selling a product you stock yourself
Finding deals for investors, paid a fee
Monthly books for small firms
Home and small commercial points
Contracts for estates and businesses
A themed box, shipped monthly
Recurring contracts with small businesses
Callouts and prevention contracts
Servicing and repairs at the customer's home
Fitting floors for homes and offices
Weekly boxes of cooked meals
Interiors and exteriors for households and landlords
An app for one specific need
Recorded training sold as a package
Local search positioning
Building an audience on video you own
One-to-one or group, paid by the programme
Running other people's holiday lets
Printed graphics for local businesses
Fixed-site valeting
Emergency entry, locks, security
Lessons in your own car
Taking calls for small firms
Managed translation for businesses
Car cleaning and care at the customer's address
Post-production for creators and companies
Small repairs and odd jobs households cannot do themselves
Recurring upkeep for households and small blocks
One-to-one training, gym or at home
Weddings, portraits, corporate events
Monetised guides and tools
Copy for companies and newsletters
Guidance on bureaucracy and compliance
Writing to a list that pays for it
A members' space people pay to be in
Removals, clearances, deliveries
Running the day for the couple
Salon or mobile service for dogs and cats
Rounds on monthly contracts
Treatments from a room or mobile
Walks, tastings and themed routes sold to visitors
Workshop or on-site service
Content and ads for local businesses
Driveways, patios, facades
Branded clothing for trades and clubs
Films the trips, sells the audience
Templates, presets, notion systems, packs
Delivery-only food brand
Adapting text and products
You are the face in the ad, paid per video
Parcels on a contracted route
Direct service to households, no middleman
Companionship and non-medical help
Volume video built with AI tools, no camera
Weekly pitch, fast feedback
Prototypes and short runs
Driveways, car parks and access roads on winter contracts
One-to-one remote lessons
Machines in other people's buildings
A booth dropped at events
Built to order, in a workshop
Own production sold online and at markets
Twitch or YouTube live, income from subs and tips
Walks and in-home care
Cutting shorts from other people's streams, paid per view
A themed page monetised by ads and promos
Audio show funded by sponsors or members
Producing tracks sold as leases or exclusives
Reselling without stock
Licensing clips and images you already shoot
Designs printed by third parties
This page filters on capital alone. The others — the hours you actually have, how soon you need income, what you can already do, and whether a licence stands in the way — usually cut the list further than the money does. Run all five in about a minute and see what survives.