Real-world examples of examples of budgeting for startups that actually work

Let’s start where most founders actually start: with a half-finished spreadsheet, a bank balance, and a runway countdown. The best examples of budgeting for startups are built around one question:

“How many months of survival do we have if nothing goes as planned?”

From there, you work backward into revenue, expenses, and tradeoffs. Below are several real-world style examples of examples of budgeting for startups, each based on common early-stage business models and 2024–2025 conditions.

Example of a lean, pre-revenue SaaS startup budget

Picture a two‑founder B2B SaaS startup in Austin building workflow software. No revenue yet, a $250,000 pre‑seed round in the bank, and a goal of 18 months of runway.

Core budget assumptions (monthly):

• Founder salaries: $5,000 each (modest, below market)
• One contract engineer: $8,000
• Tools (cloud hosting, GitHub, design, analytics): $1,500
• Legal, accounting, insurance: $1,000
• Marketing (content, basic ads tests, email tools): $2,000
• Office / coworking / travel: $1,500

Total monthly burn: $23,000

Runway: \(250,000 / \)23,000 ≈ 10.9 months.

This is where examples of budgeting for startups get real. Ten to eleven months is not enough for a B2B SaaS product to build, launch, find product‑market fit, and raise again in the 2024–2025 funding environment. So the founders adjust the budget, not the fantasy.

Adjusted lean budget:

• Cut founder salaries to $3,500 each for 12 months, then revisit
• Delay hiring the contract engineer for 4 months (founders code)
• Trim tools to $1,000 by consolidating subscriptions
• Cut marketing to $1,000 and focus on founder‑led outbound and content

New monthly burn (first 4 months):

• Founders: $7,000
• Tools: $1,000
• Legal/accounting/insurance: $1,000
• Marketing: $1,000
• Office/travel: $1,000

Total: $11,000 → Runway ≈ 22.7 months.

This is one of the best examples of how a startup budget is less about a perfect forecast and more about buying time. The founders use budgeting as a runway management tool, not as a wish list.

Example of a revenue-first e‑commerce startup budget

Now consider a solo founder running a niche e‑commerce store selling custom planners. She’s based in Atlanta, using Shopify, and already generating some revenue.

Current monthly numbers:

• Average revenue: $18,000
• Cost of goods sold (printing, materials, packaging): $7,200
• Shipping & fulfillment: $2,400
• Ads (Meta + Google): $4,000
• Apps, tools, Shopify fees: $600
• Part‑time assistant: $1,200
• Miscellaneous (samples, returns, refunds): $600

Total expenses: $16,000

Operating profit: $2,000 per month.

This is a classic example of a startup that looks healthy on the surface but is one ad platform change away from trouble. In 2024–2025, ad costs are volatile and targeting is harder. So the founder builds a new budget focused on profit and diversification.

Revised budget strategy:

• Cap ads at \(3,000, redirect \)1,000 to influencer seeding and email growth
• Negotiate printing costs down 10% by committing to quarterly batch orders
• Add a $500 monthly product development line to test higher‑margin digital add‑ons
• Reduce refunds and returns by investing $200/month in clearer product pages and sizing guides

New monthly target budget:

• Revenue goal: $20,000 (modest growth)
• COGS: $6,800 (after negotiation and batch printing)
• Shipping & fulfillment: $2,400
• Ads: $3,000
• Influencer/email growth: $1,000
• Apps/tools/fees: $600
• Assistant: $1,200
• Product development: $500
• Misc (including quality improvements): $400

Total expenses: \(15,900 → Target operating profit: \)4,100.

Here, the example of budgeting for startups shows a shift from “growth at any cost” to “growth with a profit floor.” The budget forces the founder to justify every new dollar of ad spend.

Example of a venture-backed consumer app budget

Now let’s look at a different style of budget: a VC‑backed consumer app in New York with a $3 million seed round and early traction.

They have 10 employees and 150,000 monthly active users. The board wants aggressive growth, but 2024–2025 investors are much more sensitive to burn multiples and path to profitability.

Current monthly budget snapshot:

• Salaries & benefits (10 people): $180,000
• Office & remote stipends: $15,000
• Cloud infrastructure: $20,000
• Marketing (paid UA, brand, PR): $120,000
• Legal, finance, HR services: $10,000
• Analytics, tools, software: $8,000
• Misc / travel / events: $7,000

Total burn: $360,000 per month.

Runway: \(3,000,000 / \)360,000 ≈ 8.3 months.

This is one of those real examples of budgeting for startups where the numbers scream, “Slow down or die.” The leadership team builds two budget scenarios:

Scenario A: Growth-heavy (board’s initial push)

• Keep headcount flat
• Maintain $120,000 marketing spend
• Optimize cloud costs by 15%

New burn: about $330,000 → Runway ≈ 9.1 months.

Scenario B: Runway-first

• Freeze hiring for 6–9 months
• Cut marketing to $70,000, focus on organic growth and referrals
• Move to a smaller office / more remote: save $7,000
• Renegotiate cloud contract and optimize architecture: save $6,000
• Trim travel/events to $3,000

Revised monthly burn:

• Salaries & benefits: $180,000
• Office & stipends: $8,000
• Cloud: $14,000
• Marketing: $70,000
• Legal/finance/HR: $10,000
• Tools: $8,000
• Misc: $3,000

Total: $293,000 → Runway ≈ 10.2 months.

The difference looks small on paper, but an extra two months of runway can be the difference between raising at a stronger valuation and raising in panic mode. This example of budgeting for startups shows how scenario planning is not a finance exercise; it’s a strategy decision.

For more on why investors care so much about runway and burn multiples, see guidance from the U.S. Small Business Administration on managing cash flow and expenses: https://www.sba.gov.

Example of a bootstrapped B2B services startup budget

Not every startup is chasing VC money. Take a two‑person, bootstrapped B2B marketing agency in Chicago. They serve SaaS clients on monthly retainers.

Current monthly averages:

• Revenue: $32,000
• Contractor costs (design, copy, ads): $10,000
• Software tools (ads, analytics, reporting, project management): $1,200
• Founders’ salaries: $8,000 each
• Taxes, insurance, legal, accounting: $2,000
• Misc (travel, client gifts, coworking): $1,300

Total expenses: \(30,500 → Profit: \)1,500.

That profit number is too thin for a services business with project risk. So they use budgeting to stabilize cash flow.

New budget goals:

• Maintain at least a 20% operating margin
• Build a 3‑month operating reserve within 12 months

Revised budget structure:

• Target monthly revenue: $35,000 (add 1–2 clients, raise some prices)
• Contractor costs capped at 30% of revenue: $10,500
• Tools: $1,200 (no change; already lean)
• Founders’ salaries: $7,000 each (temporary step down while building reserve)
• Taxes/insurance/legal/accounting: $2,000
• Misc: $1,300
• Reserve fund line item: $3,000

Total expenses: \(30,000 → Target profit: \)5,000.

This is one of the best examples of budgeting for startups that don’t have outside capital. The budget bakes in a reserve line item as if it were a fixed bill, which is exactly how many financially disciplined founders treat savings.

For more structured guidance on small-business budgeting and reserves, the SBA’s resource library is helpful: https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/manage-your-business/finances.

Example of a hardware startup budget facing long lead times

Hardware founders live in a different world. Cash is tied up in inventory and manufacturing long before revenue shows up.

Imagine a climate-tech hardware startup building smart thermostats for small commercial buildings. They raised $1.2 million in seed funding and are preparing for their first production run.

Key budget challenges:

• Large, lumpy manufacturing payments
• Long lead times for components
• Certification and testing costs
• Support and warranty reserves

Planned 12‑month budget highlights:

• Team salaries (5 people): $55,000/month
• Office, lab space, utilities: $8,000/month
• R&D and prototyping: \(12,000/month for first 6 months, then \)5,000
• Manufacturing deposit (month 4): $250,000 one‑time
• Final manufacturing payment (month 7): $200,000 one‑time
• Certification/testing (UL, safety, etc.): $80,000 across months 3–6
• Marketing and sales: ramping from \(5,000 to \)20,000/month by month 12

This example of budgeting for startups shows why hardware founders must build cash flow calendars, not just annual budgets. They map out when big checks actually clear and keep a minimum cash balance target (say, $200,000) that they never cross.

The team creates a monthly cash schedule showing:

• Starting cash
• Operating burn
• One‑time manufacturing and testing payments
• Expected revenue from early customers and pilots

Then they stress‑test it with pessimistic scenarios: manufacturing delays, failed tests, slower sales. This is standard advice in hardware accelerators and is consistent with broader small‑business financial planning concepts discussed by the Federal Reserve and SBA.

Example of a health-tech SaaS startup budget in a regulated space

Health‑related startups face additional compliance, security, and legal costs. Consider a telehealth SaaS company serving independent therapists in the U.S.

Key monthly budget items:

• Salaries (engineering, product, founder/CEO, support): $95,000
• Security and compliance tools (HIPAA‑aligned hosting, logging, backups): $6,000
• Legal and compliance advisors: $5,000
• Cybersecurity insurance and general liability: $3,000
• Marketing (content, webinars, conferences): $12,000
• Customer support tools and CRM: $2,500
• Misc (training, travel, small perks): $2,500

Total: $126,000.

This is one of the more specialized examples of examples of budgeting for startups, because the founders can’t simply cut compliance spending to extend runway. Instead, they use budgeting to protect non‑negotiables.

Their approach:

• Treat security, compliance, and insurance as fixed, non‑cuttable categories
• Make marketing and headcount the primary “shock absorbers” when they need to reduce burn
• Build an annual budget that includes a dedicated line for audits and security reviews

For context on why these compliance and security lines matter, founders often reference resources from organizations like the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and NIH for regulatory and health information. While not budgeting guides, they reinforce the need for dedicated compliance costs: https://www.nih.gov.

Patterns across the best examples of budgeting for startups

Looking across these real examples of budgeting for startups, a few patterns show up again and again:

Runway first, ego second.
Founders who survive treat runway as a constraint they cannot ignore. They adjust salaries, hiring plans, and marketing ambitions to buy time.

Non‑negotiables are explicit.
In the health‑tech and hardware examples, certain expenses (compliance, safety, manufacturing deposits) are not optional. Good budgets highlight these instead of burying them.

Marketing spend is a lever, not a habit.
In the e‑commerce and consumer app examples, marketing is the line item that changes most from scenario to scenario. The budget forces a conversation: what is the actual payback period on this spend?

Reserves are intentional.
The bootstrapped agency example shows how a budget can create a reserve, not just track one. Treating savings as a monthly bill is one of the best examples of long‑term thinking in a short‑term world.

Scenario planning is standard, not fancy.
The consumer app and hardware examples both use multiple scenarios. That’s not overkill; it’s basic survival in a 2024–2025 environment where capital is more expensive and customers are more cautious.

For general financial literacy and budgeting frameworks, many founders also lean on educational content from universities such as Harvard’s online finance resources: https://online.hbs.edu.

How to build your own budget using these examples

You don’t need to copy any single example of budgeting for startups line by line. Instead, use these as templates for thinking.

Start by answering three questions:

• How many months of runway do you have today, assuming zero new revenue or funding?
• Which expenses are truly non‑negotiable (safety, compliance, infrastructure, core team)?
• Where can you flex: marketing, office, contractors, founder pay, timeline?

Then sketch two or three scenarios inspired by the real examples above:

• A lean survival budget that maximizes runway
• A steady growth budget that balances burn and growth
• A push hard budget you’d use only after hitting clear traction milestones

Use a simple spreadsheet, not a fancy tool, for your first pass. Track:

• Revenue assumptions by month
• Variable costs tied to revenue (COGS, payment processing, shipping)
• Fixed operating costs (salaries, rent, tools, insurance)
• One‑time or lumpy costs (legal, manufacturing, conferences)

Then do what every one of these examples of examples of budgeting for startups did: adjust until your runway and risk tolerance match. If they don’t, the budget is telling you something your gut might be trying to ignore.

FAQ: examples of budgeting for startups

Q: Can you give a simple example of a first‑month budget for a very early startup?
Yes. Imagine a solo SaaS founder with a part‑time job, no employees, and three months of savings. A realistic first‑month budget might be: \(1,000 for rent and home office costs, \)300 for hosting and tools, \(200 for legal and incorporation fees (averaged over a few months), \)150 for basic marketing experiments, and $1,500 for personal living costs covered by outside income. That’s a lean example of budgeting for startups where the goal is to minimize burn until there’s a working product.

Q: What are common examples of expenses founders forget to include?
Examples include taxes (especially quarterly estimates), software subscription creep, payment processing fees, refunds and chargebacks, professional services (legal, accounting, HR), and insurance. Many of the real examples of budgeting for startups above show separate lines for these because surprises in any of them can wipe out a thin margin.

Q: How often should a startup update its budget?
Most early‑stage teams review actuals versus budget monthly and reforecast every quarter. High‑burn or fast‑changing startups often reforecast monthly. The best examples of budgeting for startups are living documents, not something you build once for investors and then forget.

Q: Is it realistic to budget for profit in the first year?
For bootstrapped or services‑heavy startups, yes, and you should. The agency and e‑commerce examples above both target profit from the start. For deep tech or heavily VC‑backed startups, the focus is more on runway and milestones than near‑term profit, but even then, budgeting for a path to profitability is increasingly expected by investors.

Q: Where can I learn more about small‑business budgeting best practices?
The U.S. Small Business Administration offers practical guides on budgeting, cash flow, and financing at https://www.sba.gov. For general financial education, university and .gov resources are usually more reliable than random blog posts.