What the Startup Lab does

The Groundwork Startup Lab helps you choose what business to start. You tap answers about your money, your time, where you want to work and what you like doing. The Lab narrows 910 specific businesses and 45 franchises to the few that fit, then shows what each one costs to start.

• Every start-up cost shows its source and a grade: Official, Itemized or Estimate.
• Each result sits next to its franchise version, so you can compare building it yourself with buying a system.
• The free version gives you the short list and the numbers. The $10 report adds a written plan for the business you pick, with your county's demand figures and the follow-the-money numbers.

Where the numbers come from

Owner counts and sales come from the U.S. Census Bureau (Nonemployer Statistics 2024 and County Business Patterns 2023). New-business filings come from the Census Business Formation Statistics. Survival rates come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Start-up costs come from published vendor and publisher estimates, listed with each business. Sales figures are gross receipts, not profit.

All 910 businesses in the Lab