Reasonable timeline to recoup initial business startup costs?

JDX_John

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Mar 26, 2009
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We're finalising/reviewing/revisiting our financial projections before deciding whether to pull the trigger (or not) after receiving planning permission, since it has taken a while to do so.

The business involves building a structure on land we already own, with a estimated cost of £70k to get from nothing -> opening day. Our models indicate we will be down a further £15k before the business stops losing money (around month 6) and the curve starts to go in the right direction i.e. our 'rock bottom' point has us investing £85k before that starts to reduce on a path towards profitability (this is including taking a moderate salary as soon as it won't cause us to incur a loss)

Something that did cause us a fright was in variously optimistic/pessimistic versions of our model, how long it is before that initial £70k is paid off. But then I realised I have absolutely no idea how long it would normally take a business to do this, which has to buy/build premises. So I'd love to hear any thoughts on that - are there any typical figures people throw around, or maybe business owners here can share their experience? Of course, the structure we own is in some form an asset too albeit not one we could easily sell.
Our projections are actually quite good in terms of income and profitability once things get going but we are trying to gauge the startup cost to see if this is definitely a good thing to do :)

Thanks.
 

fisicx

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Sep 12, 2006
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5 years? 10 years? You might never pay it off if the cost of the loan is less than the cost of repayment.

You might get lucky and pay it off in a couple of years. One business I know has never recovered all the money as they do some clever accounting to pay less tax.
 
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Maxwell83

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  • Aug 4, 2012
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    There is no 'normal' for timeline to profitability. The only thing that can be predicted with certainty is that it will probably be longer than projected - sod's law.

    The thing is, every business is different, require different things to get started, are run differently and enjoy different levels of success. The length of time it takes two fast food shops next door to each other to reach profit will change and in those cases there are much fewer variables. Throw in regional and industry variation and there is no standard to work to.
     
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    JDX_John

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    Mar 26, 2009
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    Thanks for the quick replies guys. I suppose I had wondered if maybe people might use some sort of multiplier of turnover as a rough guide e.g. if the turnover is £100k on a £1m initial investment, that's a pretty long-term ROI prospect :)

    For what it's worth we hope to be able to pay (modest) salaries while retaining profit to pay back the initial cost in between 2-4 years depending which model we use. We're effectively lending 70k to the business from our savings (no mortgage or loan) so on that sort of duration, does it seem dodgy to anyone or is that quite a reasonable proposition?
     
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    Mr D

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    Feb 12, 2017
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    Thanks for the quick replies guys. I suppose I had wondered if maybe people might use some sort of multiplier of turnover as a rough guide e.g. if the turnover is £100k on a £1m initial investment, that's a pretty long-term ROI prospect :)

    For what it's worth we hope to be able to pay (modest) salaries while retaining profit to pay back the initial cost in between 2-4 years depending which model we use. We're effectively lending 70k to the business from our savings (no mortgage or loan) so on that sort of duration, does it seem dodgy to anyone or is that quite a reasonable proposition?

    If I invested £70k into my business I'd expect timescale of 3 to 4 years to pay it back in full.
    Investing in building a structure for the business to use? I'd probably be looking 10 years plus. 20 years would not surprise me.
    That's just my business model - yours will be different.
     
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    MOIC

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  • Nov 16, 2011
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    How important is the structure?

    Can the cost be reduced for a lower spec?

    Can you move in to a 'ready made structure' albeit not to the same spec that you are looking to build?

    I would look to the financing of the structure as a separate set-up cost and calculate the repayment based on a loan/interest payment plan, say over 10 years.

    What does your accountant advise?
     
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