The honest answer is that you can start a local service business for a few hundred dollars if you do the work yourself, and plenty of good companies began that way. If you want to build a company rather than a job, with a small team from the start and some money to find out which marketing works, I would set aside between $1,000 and $1,500, and treat $500 as the bare minimum.
Costs vary a great deal by country, state and trade, so treat this as a map rather than a quote, and check current prices before you spend. It pairs with days 6 to 12 of the 30-day plan.
1The one-off setup costs
- Registering the business. An LLC in the US, or a limited company in the UK, costs a filing fee that varies by state and country; many US states also charge an annual fee. Your state or government website lists them.
- Licences and permits. Many services need none, some need a local business licence, and a few trades need exams or bonds. Check before you choose your service, not after.
- Insurance. General liability for nearly everyone, plus a bond for cleaning. Usually paid monthly or yearly; get two or three quotes.
- Your website and domain. A domain is a small yearly fee, and a website builder, or the site included with your booking software, is a monthly subscription. AI can draft the copy, so the main cost is your time. Don’t hire a designer yet.
- Equipment and supplies. For cleaning, a starter kit of supplies; for windows, a basic kit (my original plan pointed out you could start knocking on doors with a $50 window-cleaning kit). For pressure washing, lawn care or junk removal, the machine or the vehicle is the big cost. Rent, or buy used, until demand proves itself.
- Hiring. Job posts (some free, some paid), a background check for each candidate, and a paid trial job.
- Branding. A simple logo and uniforms can come later. A clear name and a clean website matter more at the start.
What drives the cost in different trades
- Cleaning: one of the cheapest trades to equip. Supplies, vacuums and a kit per team. Insurance and a bond matter more than equipment.
- Window cleaning: ladders, squeegees and poles to start. A water-fed pole system is a bigger purchase you can add later for exterior work.
- Pressure washing: the machine, a surface cleaner, hoses, chemicals and a way to carry it all. One of the higher equipment costs, so rent for the first jobs if you can.
- Lawn care: a mower, a trimmer and a blower, then a trailer once you have a route. Commercial-grade and used beats domestic and new.
- Junk removal: the vehicle or trailer is the big cost, plus disposal fees, which belong in every quote.
- Handyman work and painting: tools you may already own. Insurance, and in some places a licence, matter more than kit.
2The monthly running costs
- Booking software. Entry plans, usually with a free trial. One system, not three.
- A business phone app for calls and texts on a separate number.
- Insurance, if you pay monthly.
- Your website subscription.
- Card fees, usually around three percent of each card payment.
- Marketing: your test budget for the first two channels.
- Labour. If you use contractors or staff, this is your biggest cost by far, but it is paid from the jobs themselves. Your prices have to cover it with room to spare, which is what the pricing guide is for.
3A sensible way to split $1,000 to $1,500
I would think of it in four parts:
- About a quarter on setup: registration, insurance and licences.
- About a fifth on tools for the first two months: website, booking software and phone.
- About forty percent on marketing tests, because you won’t know which channels work in your town until you try them.
- The rest on supplies, and a small reserve for the surprises that always come.
If your trade needs a machine or a vehicle, budget for that separately, and look hard at renting first.
4What to leave until later
- A van, a vehicle wrap, an office, or expensive equipment you could rent.
- A web designer or a branding agency.
- Paid ads on review sites before you have reviews. Yelp ads, for example, only make sense once you have ten to fifteen good reviews there.
- A Google Ads agency before the business brings in around $10,000 a month.
- Software you don’t use yet.
5Where AI saves you money
Used well, AI replaces several early costs: first drafts of your website, service descriptions and FAQs; job posts; training checklists made from your own voice notes; review replies; and first drafts of policies and agreements, which a professional should still check. It doesn’t replace insurance, a proper legal structure, or the people who do the work.
6Paying for it as you grow
The first jobs pay for the next round of marketing. Keep business money in the business account from day one, pay yourself a fixed amount once the numbers allow, and set aside a share of every job for marketing and a reserve. If your prices leave room for all three, the business funds itself from here.
Questions people ask
Can I start with no money at all?
You can start with very little if you do the work yourself and stick to free channels such as your Google Business Profile, Nextdoor and local groups. You still need insurance before the first job. The cost of starting with nothing is time: everything takes longer, and it is harder to step out of doing the work later.
Do I need an LLC before my first job?
Not always, legally. I would still set one up early, with insurance and a separate bank account, because one accident is all it takes. This is my opinion rather than legal advice, so ask an accountant what suits you.
How long until the business pays for itself?
There is no responsible universal answer. It depends on your service, your market, your prices and how much selling you do. Tracking your cost per booking and your margin from the first week (days 22 and 24 of the 30-day plan) tells you early whether you are on track.
What is the most common mistake?
Spending on things that neither bring customers nor protect you: a designer, a van wrap, a stack of software subscriptions, ads before you have reviews. Keep the money for insurance and for testing the channels that bring bookings.
Spend where it brings customers or protects you, and nowhere else yet. The rest can wait until the business pays for it.