Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Business Formation Fees

$600

$4,700

Equipment & Supply Expenses

$63

$200

Inventory Expenses

$350

$14,750

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$0

$2,300

Software Expenses

$150

$2,420

Total Startup Costs

$1,537

$38,937

Bunnings

bunnings.com.au

3,008

B&Q

diy.com

17,636

Jennifer Maker

jennifermaker.com

74,473

Do It Yourself Pest Control Products Online

doyourownpestcontrol.com

98,336

Smallstarter Africa

smallstarter.com

270,851

OnPoint

onpointglobal.com

278,045

AR Workshop

arworkshop.com

347,580

Concrete Countertop Solutions

concretecountertopsolutions.com

384,400

The Ultimate DIY Workshop and Makerspace!

urbanworkshop.net

517,060

Soap Making Supplies

soapgoods.com

565,147

OBI

obi.com

784,793

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Rewarding work

Starting a DIY business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a DIY business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Churn

In this business, customers can cancel their membership or subscription for your services - which can make revenue forecasting challenging and unpredictable. It's important to focus on your churn rates and trends so that you can prevent this as much as possible.

Time commitment

With starting a DIY business, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.

Difficult to build trust with your customer

With starting a DIY business, there can be minimal face-to-face interaction, which means it can be a lot more difficult to establish trust with your customers. You'll need to go the extra mile with your customer to grab their attention and business.

Impatient customers

You may offer an engaging user experience for your customer, but customers expect a lot and may be impatient if they aren't pleased with your product or service.

You might struggle financially (at first)!

If you bootstrap your business or choose not to pay yourself (or pay yourself less than you were making at your corporate job), this can be financially taxing. It's important to adjust your lifestyle and set a plan for yourself so you don't find yourself in a stressful situation.