StartMargin / Start with €5,000
75 of our 115 businesses begin under €5,000 — that is 65% 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 22 need more than €2,000 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 75, only 32 can grow beyond what you can personally do in a week — by hiring, or by adding units. The other 43 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: 72%. 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
Sites and apps for small businesses
Workshops delivered to companies
Ads and content on retainer
Domestic and small commercial installation and testing
Repairs, installations and boiler work for households
Subscription software for a narrow niche
Commercial cover, renewed yearly
Custom automated workflows
Selling homes on commission
Small-group and business classes
Arranging loans, paid by commission
Ad reels produced with AI tools
Coaching for one specific test
Your own brand, sold on Amazon
Rebuilding sites for local businesses
Selling a product you stock yourself
Finding deals for investors, paid a fee
Monthly books for small firms
A themed box, shipped monthly
Recurring contracts with small businesses
Fitting floors for homes and offices
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
Emergency entry, locks, security
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
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
Films the trips, sells the audience
Templates, presets, notion systems, packs
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
One-to-one remote lessons
A booth dropped at events
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.