How to Start a Solopreneur Business for €217/Month – My Complete Setup

The Truth About My Costs

I'm in my third year as a solopreneur. I build Software-as-a-Services and mobile apps. My goal? To live completely off my own projects.

So far, I haven't had a breakthrough. But you know what? I can keep going anyway.

Why? Because my setup is so cheap that I can sustain it for five years without going broke.

€2607 per year. €217 per month.

That's my complete burn rate. And I'm going to show you exactly how that's possible.

Who Is This Setup For?

Before we dive in: This setup is not for everyone.

It's not for people who want to scale a software business ultra-fast with venture capital.

It's for people who:

• Want to build side projects alongside their main job
• Don't have much money to invest
• Think long-term and want to learn
• Value time over money

The currency in this system is not money, but time.

The more time you invest, the more you can achieve. And that's exactly why it works for me.

My Complete Setup – The Basics

VPS (Virtual Private Server) – €27.36/month

My projects need to run somewhere. Solopreneurpage, client websites, my own website—everything runs on a VPS.

I have one at Hostinger. Four cores, 16 GB RAM. Totally sufficient.

With all my projects, I'm maybe using 10% of the CPU. I have plenty of buffer.

A VPS is key when you work as an indie hacker or solopreneur.

Domains – approx. €11-12/month

Digital real estate. I buy too many domains. Impulsively. That I then don't use.

Currently, I have about 20 domains. Some for active projects, some "for later" (which never comes).

But domains are essential. No domain, no business.

Aldi Talk – €8.99/month

My business phone. Very simple. Cheap. 10 GB or so.

I basically only need it for a mobile number and to write to customers via WhatsApp.

Nothing more.

Insurance – variable

Two insurances are essential for me:

Disability insurance In case I get seriously ill and can't work anymore

IT liability insurance This is extremely important. So much can go wrong:

• Warning letter for missing imprint? €800 fine.
• Overlooked data protection rules? Warning letter.
• Some legal mistake? The insurance helps.

Without IT liability, I couldn't sleep at night.

The Essential Licenses

Apple Cloud (2TB) – €9.99/month

Backup of projects, databases, images, videos. Everything.

2TB is currently enough. Essential for me.

Claude AI Pro – €23/month

This is absolutely essential.

AI makes me feel ten times faster. Sure, you have to check everything. But without Claude, I'd take so much longer for everything.

Programming, research, content—Claude helps me everywhere.

iOS Developer License – €8.25/month

€99 per year. Mandatory if you want to publish apps in the App Store.

Google Play Store costs a one-time €25, by the way. Apple, on the other hand, charges annually

But that's how it is.

SevDesk – €27.25/month

My accounting tool. Extremely important.

Please, please start doing proper bookkeeping right away. This will come back to bite you sooner or later.

I've talked to people who say: "Yeah, I do accounting in an Excel spreadsheet."

Dude, don't do that.

First of all, it's not allowed. The documents must be locked so you can't edit them. And there's a 10-year retention requirement.

Invest in a tool like SevDesk or Lexoffice. It's worth it.

Business Address – €5.99/month

A mailbox where letters can be sent.

You can list this address in your imprint, so you don't have to use your private address.

Super essential for me.

Google Workspace – €8/month

My business email.

The cool thing: I can manage all domain emails through it. For example, I have support@solopreneurpage.com as an alias.

I don't have to create a new email account for each domain. One account, many aliases.

Extremely important for my business.

Marketing & Content Tools

CapCut Pro – €16.58/month

Video editing. For YouTube, TikTok, Instagram.

Easy to use, works well.

Canva Pro – €9.17/month

Designs, thumbnails, social media posts.

Super happy with Canva. Perfect for non-designers like me.

Metricool – €15.50/month

One of the most important tools for me.

The content game is crazy. You have to post so much, on so many platforms. Without Metricool, I'd lose my mind.

Metricool is a social media scheduling tool. I schedule all posts for the entire month in advance.

Without this tool, I'd get instant content burnout.

If you want to build a personal brand, you'll need a tool like this. Posting everything manually will make you sick.

Envato – €17.26/month

Design assets and royalty-free music.

For videos, for content. Helps me a lot.

The Total Calculation

Let's add it up:

• VPS: €27.36
• Domains: €12
• Aldi Talk: €8.99
• Insurance: variable
• Apple Cloud: €9.99
• Claude AI Pro: €23
• iOS Developer: €8.25
• SevDesk: €27.25
• Business Address: €5.99
• Google Workspace: €8
• CapCut Pro: €16.58
• Canva Pro: €9.17
• Metricool: €15.50
• Envato: €17.26

Total: approx. €217/month Per year: approx. €2607

I think that's pretty cheap, I have to say.

"But Max, what about health insurance, retirement, marketing?"

Good question. Here comes the game changer:

I have a part-time job.

That means:

• I have health insurance
• Social security is covered
• Retirement savings are covered
• I get a salary

I use the salary for living. And I can put everything I save completely into the business.

This is exactly the point why this approach works so well for me.

I don't have to live off the business directly. I don't have ultra-high stress levels.

Why This System Could Work For You

Many of you have a full-time job, but you have projects you're passionate about building on the side.

You want to go full-time—but you can't afford it.

And I'm telling you: That's completely okay.

All these hustlers out there say: "No, that's not real business. Max, that's pretty weak. You're not really all-in."

That's nonsense. Don't listen to those people.

It's absolutely smart, because we want to stay in this game for a long time. Not just one year, then broke, then we can't do it anymore.

I want to see this long-term.

If after five years I'm still not profitable, that's okay. In those five years, I've learned so much that sooner or later I'll get my return on investment with this knowledge.

Breakeven? No Problem.

To break even, I don't need many projects per year.

Let's say I sell two websites per year for €1500 each.

€1500 is a cheap website. Two of them = €3000.

Boom, burn rate covered.

Two projects per year—you can definitely manage that.

You don't have to make revenue immediately. You don't have ultra-high stress levels.

Of course, it's still a lot of work. A lot of stress. Especially a lot of time that you invest alongside work.

But I deliberately built this setup because it buys me time.

Time to learn. Time to figure things out. Time to experiment.

Sure, I don't earn anything at first. But I can build long-term.

Not make quick money, but watch, learn, and hopefully find something that works—and that then generates revenue.

Not For Everyone – But Maybe For You

This is not a "quit-your-job-and-become-a-millionaire" setup.

This is a "build-smart-on-the-side" setup.

It's slow. It's hard. This is really bootstrapping until it hurts.

But I think it's sustainable. Because you learn so much in this journey.

And that's one of the most valuable points of this system for me: I can do this without mega pressure and take time to really learn.

Time Is The Only Investment

You need patience. I don't have that either, but I want to learn it.

Time is the only investment in this system.

And if you're young like me, you have a lot of time.

I wouldn't even know what else to do. I don't have many friends. I have autism.

So why not build a business? I have nothing else anyway.

The Tools & Affiliate Links

If you want to support me and use one of these tools, you can do so through my affiliate links. You don't pay a cent more, but I get a small commission that helps me continue this business.

No obligation—but I'd appreciate it! 🙏

🌐 Hostinger (VPS Hosting)

My VPS provider. Reliable, cheap, perfect for indie hackers. Go to Hostinger →

🌐 Hostinger VPS – 20% Discount

If you need a VPS directly, you can get 20% off with this link. VPS with 20% discount →

📊 SevDesk – up to 50% Discount

My accounting tool. Essential for clean finances. Go to SevDesk →

📈 Metricool

The social media scheduling tool without which I'd lose my mind. Go to Metricool →

🧑‍⚖️ exali IT Liability Insurance

My IT liability insurance. Protects you from expensive warning letters. Go to exali →

All other tools (Apple Cloud, Claude AI, Canva, etc.) don't have affiliate programs, but you can easily find them through Google.

Conclusion: Smart Bootstrapping Instead of Quick Failure

Now you know how to start a solopreneur business for €217 per month if you're smart and have the right context.

This is not a get-rich-quick setup. This is a build-smart-and-sustainable setup.

If you're starting on the side: What's your burn rate? Let's talk transparently about how to start cheaply.

I hope you could take something away from this.

Bootstrapping until we can live off it.