What does it cost to start a business in NZ? Real fees, hidden costs and how to cover the gap

Starting a business in New Zealand is cheap to register and expensive to run. An NZBN is free, a company costs $136.55 to incorporate, and a sole trader needs no registration fee at all. Those aren’t the numbers that sink new founders. The bill that matters is gear, stock, insurance, ACC, a website and a few months of living costs while the sales catch up. Here’s how to build that budget for real.

What are the official costs to start a business in NZ?

Let’s do the small stuff first, because it’s genuinely small.

Two notes. The Companies Office schedule we’re quoting is dated from 1 July 2022, and MBIE ran a consultation on Companies Office fees and levies in 2025 (MBIE review). It hasn’t published new amounts we can point to, but check the schedule on the day you file in case it’s moved.

Second, a company isn’t automatically the right call. If you’re not sure, our guide to sole trader vs company in NZ covers when each makes sense. You can always start as a sole trader and move up later.

So legal set-up: roughly $150 for a company, nothing for a sole trader. Now for the part that actually needs a budget.

What are the costs nobody puts on the checklist?

This is where “how much do I need?” goes wrong. Founders count the fee to register and forget the lines below.

• ACC levies. Self-employed people pay ACC. For 2026/27 ACC’s CoverPlus has a minimum liable income of $50,501, and it applies to full-time self-employed workers (more than 30 hours a week on average). If you earn less, ACC still uses the minimum to work out your levy. Part-time workers are levied on actual income (ACC: calculating your levies). The rate depends on your industry’s classification unit, so get your number from ACC rather than guessing. That’s the sneaky one: a full-time founder earning $20,000 in year one can still be levied as if they earned $50,501.
• Insurance. Public liability at the least; product liability if you sell physical goods; cover for tools and stock.
• An accountant or software. Setting up books properly on day one is cheaper than untangling them at tax time. Read our provisional tax guide for the first year before IRD does your thinking for you.
• Your first provisional tax and GST cash. Money you collect for IRD isn’t yours. Park it somewhere you can’t spend it.
• Launch marketing. A logo, a website, product photos and the first ad budget.
• Your own wages. The one founders forget most. If the business can’t pay you for three months, who covers your rent?

How much does it cost for four common founder types?

Here’s a rough shape for each. These are illustrative ranges built from the cost categories above, not quotes. Your numbers will differ, so price each line yourself.

1. Service side hustle going full-time (cleaning, mobile detailing, trades-lite). Big costs: tools and consumables, a vehicle you probably already own, insurance, ACC. Lowest cost to start, with little or no stock. The risk is cash gaps while clients pay late.

2. Online store (Shopify, Trade Me, social selling). Big costs: launch stock, photography, platform and apps, first ad budget. Stock is the line that grows fastest, and it’s the one that ties up cash. Use our guide to unit economics before you borrow for ads to test whether an order pays back before you place it.

3. Creator or agency. Big costs: a laptop, camera or software, a decent workspace and a few months of runway while the first client invoices land. Light on stock, heavy on you being paid on time. Our agency and creator loans page covers how lenders see this kind of income.

4. Coffee cart or food truck. Big costs: the vehicle or cart, the fit-out and espresso kit, food-safety registration, council permits, insurance and opening stock. This is the most capital-hungry of the four. See café and food truck loans for how funding works there. Check council and MPI requirements for your region before you budget, as they differ.

The gap rule of thumb: add up set-up costs, launch stock and marketing, then add three months of fixed costs and your own living costs with zero sales. That total is what you need to have, or to be able to borrow, before you start.

Short of that number? Check your options in about 60 seconds. Asking doesn’t touch your credit file.

Example: a mobile cleaning start-up

Illustrative example only, not a real business.

Mere is leaving a job to run a residential cleaning business in Tauranga. She already has a car. Her list:

1. Equipment and supplies: vacuum, steam cleaner, caddies, products.
2. Public liability insurance.
3. A simple website and a booking tool.
4. Branded workwear and flyers.
5. ACC levies, set aside from her first invoice.
6. Three months of her own rent and groceries.

Line 6 is the one that stops her. The gear is affordable from savings. But with no clients for week one, she needs a buffer that doesn’t come from the business itself. That’s the pattern: start-up costs are rarely the problem; the runway is.

Her plan: buy the essentials, keep the fancy steam cleaner for after her first ten clients, and line up funding for the runway before she hands in her notice, not after.

What’s the cheapest way to start?

Cutting costs is smarter than borrowing for them. A few ways to start lean:

• Start as a sole trader. No incorporation or annual return fee. You can restructure once you’re earning.
• Presell. Take deposits or preorders so customers fund your first stock.
• Buy the minimum, then reinvest. Second-hand tools, one hero product, one service area.
• Use free registrations. The NZBN costs nothing, and registering with IRD is free.
• Test before you build. Run a small trial on Trade Me or a market stall before launching a full store. Our side hustle to full time guide shows how to prove demand first.

Watch the GST line as you grow. You must register once turnover reaches $60,000 in a 12-month period, or you expect it will (IRD: registering for GST). Our GST registration threshold guide goes through how to track it.

How do you cover the gap if you don’t have it all saved?

Most founders mix a few sources. In rough order of “cheapest and easiest first”:

1. Your own savings and presales.
2. Supplier terms. A 30-day account with a supplier is free float.
3. Family or partners, if you want to go that way. Write it down.
4. Borrowing. The right product depends on how long you’ve been trading.

On the borrowing side, here’s how it breaks down for a new NZ business:

• Under about six months trading: a loan from $20,000 to $1m secured on NZ property you or a supporting party own is the realistic route. You don’t need a trading history for it, because the property carries the security.
• From around six months: unsecured funding based on business bank statements may open up, and so might a line of credit for ongoing needs.

Our new business loans page explains the first six months in more detail, and the startup loans page covers property-secured options. For the wider picture, including grants and raising, see NZ startup funding options for 2026.

Whatever you choose, borrow for things that make money (stock you’ll sell, equipment you’ll bill with), not for your own comfort. Lenders will also want to see a plan that adds up, which is easier when you’ve done the budget above.

Let’s turn your budget into a plan

You’ve just done the hard part: a real number. Now the question is whether the gap between that number and your savings is one you can bridge, and how.

That’s what we help with. We work with young Kiwi founders, online sellers and creators every week, from a first laptop to a first shop. If you’re staring at a start-up budget and a smaller savings balance, tell us about it:

• It takes about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check when you enquire. Your credit score stays exactly where it is.
• We don’t blast your details to a pile of lenders. No spray and pray, no flood of calls.
• A real person reads your situation and calls you to talk through what’s realistic.
• Please fill the form in accurately, with your real savings, timeframe and what you need, so we can match the right option the first time.

See if you qualify →