Based on 670 real online stores worldwide, including 375 that closed.
✓Your budget should cover this.
Bills run about $650 a month (fuel, insurance, rent, phone). Most owners make a profit after about 7 months. Keep this much aside to pay bills until then.
Register for VAT. Use OSS to sell to other EU countries.
GDPR privacy policy. CE mark on some products.
Register with your local trade office or chamber of commerce. Usually €50 to €400.
Free to about €10 a month. Keeps business money apart from yours.
Sets up your books and files your first tax return.
$10.4k
Before costs. November–December peak.
| Slow | Typical | Strong | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $2k | $4.7k | $10.9k |
| Year 3 | $5.3k | $11.1k | $23.4k |
| Year 5 | $6.7k | $14.5k | $31.4k |
Slow: 1 in 4 make less than this. Typical: half make more, half make less. Strong: 1 in 4 make more than this.
Wolkje sells merino socks online and gets 46% of revenue from returning customers, so it can switch paid ads off for the winter without sales collapsing. Revenue is up 34% on last year.
“Two-thirds of sales land in November and December. Cash planning is everything.”
about $83k
Starting costs about $72.6k less. Buying costs more, but you earn from the first month and skip the risky early years.