How much money do I need to save for my new business to take off without a hitch?

bacall423 — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:14:43 -0800

How much money do I need to start my business? And am I foolish to think I will be able to do this?? I'm planning to start a private investigating business in early-mid 2008. Before it happens, my partner and I will move from San Francisco to Eugene, OR (she's hopefully going to be attending grad school at UO). Our cost of living will decrease substantially, but she will most likely have a limited income, so I am fully expecting money to be tight for a little while.

My question is this: How much money do I need to save up in order to focus all my efforts on my new business once we're in Eugene?

The business will be low-cost to start-up - I've estimated about $3,000 will go into licensing fees, a new computer, etc. Moving fees have been estimated at about $1,200.

(I should mention here that my business will be a sole proprietorship, I will be working from home, and most of my work will be done online. I'm not the field investigating type of P.I., I'm the public records research P.I. with a librarian background. The main focus of my work will be background investigations and skip tracing.)

So, besides the estimated $4,200 needed to move and start my business, how much do you think would be necessary to have saved up before jumping into this head first? I'm not sure how much rent will be in Eugene, but I'm guessing maybe $800 a month for a 2 bedroom?

Should I look into small business loans, state funded grants, etc., or is that not a good idea?

Also, does anyone have any idea how much E&O insurance for this type of business might cost me?

Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with privateinvestigating

How much money do I need to save for my new business to take off without a hitch?