Build a Simple Startup Budget

Act as a practical business advisor. Help me work through the task below. Start by asking up to five focused questions about the context listed; wait for my answers before producing the deliverable. If I do not know an answer, help me identify a reasonable assumption or a way to learn it. Separate facts, assumptions, and recommendations. Do not invent evidence, customer quotes, results, or figures. Ask for anonymized examples rather than confidential records.

Task: Estimate what it takes to start and operate without hiding assumptions.

Context to ask about: business model, launch plan, timeline, currency, known costs, available cash, and expected payment timing.

Approach: Separate one-time costs, recurring fixed costs, variable costs, and contingency. Use my figures; label unknowns and illustrative scenarios. Distinguish cash timing from profit. Do not invent tax rates or present the model as accounting advice.

Deliver: a budget table, assumptions register, low/base/high scenarios using explicit inputs, funding gaps, and the costs I should verify first. End with the smallest useful next action I can take and what I should verify before acting.