导读：创办一家跨境电商公司需要多少起步资金？第一年有哪些花费？你的钱都去了哪里？本文指出，创业是马拉松而非短跑，因此作为创业者，一定要有长期主义心态来打造自己的事业。本文来自 Shopify 博客，阅读时间约 5 分钟。
原文与译文
Many entrepreneurs start their business with little more than a dream and a shoestring budget. In fact, some business models require very little up-front costs, and at Shopify, we’ve personally witnessed the success of countless entrepreneurs with humble beginnings. But among the small businesses that get their business off the ground and don’t last, more than a third cite a shortage of cash as the reason.
许多企业家在开始创业时，除了一个梦想和有限的预算外，几乎没有别的选择。事实上，有些商业模式只需要很少的前期费用，在 Shopify，我们亲自见证了无数创业者的成功，他们的起点很低。但是，在那些业务起步后无法持续发展的小企业中，超过三分之一的人认为现金短缺是原因。
- witnessed – 见证了
We wanted to understand: how much does it cost to run a business — really? And do aspirational entrepreneurs have any misconceptions about what those costs will look like in their first year of business? In October, we surveyed 150 aspirational entrepreneurs and 300 small business owners in the US to find out exactly that.
我们想了解：经营一个企业的成本到底是多少？有抱负的创业者对这些成本在创业第一年的情况是否有任何误解？ 10 月，我们对美国 150 名有抱负的企业家和 300 名小企业主进行了调查，以弄清这一点。
How much does it cost to run a business? / 经营一个企业需要多少钱？
According to our research, small business owners spend an average of $40,000 in their first full year of business.
根据我们的研究，小企业主在创业的第一个完整年度平均花费 4 万美元。（注：约为 26 万人民币。）
This doesn’t mean you need $40,000 in cash lying around to start a small business. In fact, for many founders, first-year costs are incurred in the process of earning business — and revenue is reinvested from the business to cover expenses. Not to mention, businesses with employees spend a lot more than solopreneurs, which skews this number higher.
这并不意味着你需要有 4 万美元的现金躺在身边才能创办一个小企业。事实上，对许多创始人来说，第一年的成本是在赚取业务的过程中产生的 — 收入从业务中再投资以支付费用。更不用说，有员工的企业比一个人单干的花费要多得多，这使这个数字变得更高。
To keep it simple, we bucketed the following business functions and cost categories for them:
为了简单起见，我们为他们归类了以下业务功能和成本类别。
- Product: raw materials, inventory, supplier, manufacturing, patents, etc.
- Operating: incorporation/legal fees, additional software, accounting, etc.
- Online store: website/platform subscription, hosting/domain, contract developer/designer, etc.
- Shipping: packaging, labels, etc.
- Offline: stall/table fees, rent, gas, etc.
- Team/Staff: salaries, benefits, perks, etc.
- Marketing: logo, branding, ads, printed materials, etc.
- 产品：原材料、库存、供应商、制造、专利等。
- 经营：公司注册/法律费用、附加软件、会计等。
- 网上商店：网站/平台订阅、主机/域名、合同开发人员/设计师等。
- 运输：包装、标签等。
- 线下：摊位费、租金、汽油等。
- 团队/员工：工资、福利、津贴等。
- 营销：Logo 设计、品牌、广告、印刷材料等。
Our budget recommendations / 我们的预算建议
We said it earlier but it’s important to reiterate: the costs of starting a business vary greatly and depend on many different factors, like the industry you’re operating in, your business model, the size of your team, your cost of goods, and so on. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong amount of money to spend in your first year, it’s about how you spend what you have.
我们前面说过，但有必要重申：创业的成本差异很大，取决于许多不同的因素，如你所经营的行业、你的商业模式、你的团队规模、你的商品成本等等。归根结底，第一年花多少钱并没有对错之分，关键是你如何花你的钱。
Still, after analyzing trends among high-earning businesses and consulting startup advisers, there appears to be a general range that’s advisable to spend in each cost category in your first year:
不过，在分析了高收入企业的趋势和咨询了初创企业顾问后，似乎有一个总体范围，即第一年在每个成本类别中的支出是可取的。
- Operations: 10%–15%
- Product: 28%–36%
- Shipping: 8%–12%
- Online: 9%–10%
- Marketing: 7%–12%
- Team: 14%–30%
- 公司经营：10%-15%
- 产品：28%-36%
- 运输：8%-12%
- 在线店铺：9%-10%
- 市场营销：7%-12%
- 员工支出：14%-30%
Remember: starting a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s critical then that you don’t measure the success of your business by your first year profitability. Give yourself a runway of 18-24 months for your business to get off the ground. Spend your first year testing, reiterating, and reinvesting your sales back into your business using the above budget guidelines.
请记住：创办一个成功的企业是一场马拉松，而不是一个短跑。因此，至关重要的是，你不要用第一年的盈利能力来衡量你的企业的成功。给自己留出 18 – 24 个月的时间，让你的业务能够起步。把第一年的时间用在测试、迭代和使用上述预算准则将你的销售额重新投入到你的业务中。
- sprint – 冲刺
Being an entrepreneur requires a certain appetite for risk. But with the right information and a clear sense of your financial goals, you can avoid many of the financial missteps common to new entrepreneurs.
作为一个企业家，需要有一定的风险承受能力。但是，有了正确的信息和对财务目标的清晰认识，你可以避免新创业者常见的许多财务错误。
- appetite – 欲望