Deal Aggregator Website Running Costs: $94K Monthly Burn

Deal Aggregator Website Running Costs

Expect initial monthly running costs for a Deal Aggregator Website to hover near $95,000 in 2026, primarily driven by payroll and technology infrastructure This figure includes $68,333 in initial wages for seven full-time employees (FTEs) and $25,800 in fixed overhead like office lease and software Variable costs, such as server hosting and payment fees, will consume about 80% of your gross revenue initially Achieving profitability requires tight control over customer acquisition costs and scaling revenue quickly The model shows you hit break-even by June 2026, but you need a minimum cash buffer of $390,000 to navigate the first six months This guide details the seven core operational expenses you must track

7 Operational Expenses to Run Deal Aggregator Website

#	Operating Expense	Expense Category	Description	Min Monthly Amount	Max Monthly Amount
1	Wages	Fixed	Payroll starts at $68,333 monthly for seven full-time employees, including leadership.	$68,333	$68,333
2	Lease	Fixed	The physical office space costs a fixed $12,000 every month.	$12,000	$12,000
3	Cloud	COGS	Server hosting is a direct cost projected at 45% of gross revenue in 2026.	$0	$0
4	Fees	Variable	Payment gateway transaction fees are a direct variable cost of 35% of revenue.	$0	$0
5	Marketing Overhead	Fixed	Fixed general marketing budget, separate from acquisition spend, is set at $5,000 monthly.	$5,000	$5,000
6	Software	Fixed	Essential software subscriptions and CRM systems require a fixed outlay of $2,500.	$2,500	$2,500
7	Legal/Acct	Fixed	Professional services for compliance and legal structure management budget $4,000 monthly.	$4,000	$4,000
Total	All Operating Expenses	All Operating Expenses		$91,833	$91,833

What is the total required monthly operating budget for the first 12 months?

The total required monthly operating budget for your Deal Aggregator Website is the sum of your fixed overhead, dedicated payroll, and variable Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), all calculated against the $2,478M Year 1 revenue projection. Figuring out these initial costs is the first critical step before you even start building out the full financial model; to help with that groundwork, review How Do I Write A Business Plan For Deal Aggregator Website? Honestly, if you are projecting $2.478 billion in revenue, your monthly fixed burn rate needs to support that scale, defintely.

Fixed Overhead & Payroll

Fixed overhead covers the non-negotiable costs you pay monthly, like office space or core SaaS tools.
Estimate core engineering and leadership payroll at $150,000 per month, including employer taxes and benefits.
Budget $25,000 monthly for essential platform hosting (AWS/Azure) and specialized data feed subscriptions.
General & Administrative (G&A) costs, including legal retainers and accounting services, should start around $10,000 monthly.

Variable Costs (COGS)

Variable COGS scale directly with transaction volume, which is high given the $2.478B target.
Payment processing fees are a major component; expect costs around 3.0% of total processed value.
Marketing spend to acquire both sellers and buyers must be tracked as variable, aiming for a Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) below $40.
If you sell enhanced marketing services, the direct cost of delivering those promotions must be isolated from fixed overhead.

Which recurring cost category represents the largest percentage of total monthly spend?

Payroll is defintely your largest known recurring cost category at $683k monthly, dwarfing the $258k in fixed overhead. Still, you must watch variable costs closely, as they currently eat up 160% of revenue, meaning every dollar earned costs you $1.60 before accounting for salaries or rent.

Fixed Cost Breakdown

Payroll totals $683,000 monthly.
Fixed overhead is $258,000 monthly.
Payroll exceeds overhead by $425,000.
Headcount efficiency is your primary fixed lever.

Variable Cost Leverage

Variable cost ratio is 160% of revenue.
Gross margin is negative before salaries.
Target commission structures immediately.
Cut seller acquisition spend now.

Since variable costs are 160% of revenue, your gross margin is negative before salaries are even considered, which is a major red flag for the Deal Aggregator Website. You need immediate levers to drive down those transaction or marketing fees, which you can explore in detail on How Increase Profits From Deal Aggregator Website?

How much working capital cash buffer is required to reach the June 2026 break-even date?

You need a minimum working capital buffer of $390,000 to survive until the June 2026 break-even point, which means securing funding to cover at least six months of projected operating losses; for a deeper dive into initial setup costs, check out How Much To Launch Deal Aggregator Website Business?

Cash Buffer Requirement

The target minimum cash balance is $390,000.
This amount must cover 6 months of negative cash flow.
June 2026 is the projected break-even date.
This buffer protects against slow initial user adoption.

Managing Runway

Calculate the precise monthly net burn rate.
If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises.
Focus sales efforts on high-margin subscription tiers first.
Every dollar spent must directly accelerate revenue growth.

If revenue projections fall short by 30%, how will we cover the fixed monthly costs of $94,133?

If revenue projections for the Deal Aggregator Website fall short by 30%, you need to cover a $28,240 shortfall against your $94,133 fixed monthly costs immediately; this is the reality when growth stalls, so understanding your burn rate is crucial before you look at How Much To Launch Deal Aggregator Website Business?. Honestly, the first place to look is non-essential overhead, defintely before touching product development or core server costs.

Immediate Fixed Cost Cuts

Cut the $12,000 office lease expense now.
Eliminate $5,000 general marketing spend.
These two actions save $17,000 monthly.
This covers 60% of the projected shortfall.

Addressing the Remaining Gap

The remaining deficit is $11,240 monthly.
Focus sales efforts on seller subscriptions.
Drive adoption of promoted listing services.
Each new premium seller closes $500 of the gap.

Key Takeaways

The initial monthly operating burn rate for the Deal Aggregator Website is projected to be approximately $94,133, driven heavily by fixed payroll and overhead expenses.
Payroll for the initial seven full-time employees constitutes the single largest fixed expense category, accounting for about $68,333 of the monthly burn rate.
A minimum working capital cash buffer of $390,000 is essential to sustain operations through the initial ramp-up phase until the projected break-even date in June 2026.
Variable costs, including hosting and transaction fees, start extremely high at 160% of revenue, demanding tight control over customer acquisition costs for early profitability.

Running Cost 1 : Wages and Salaries

Payroll Dominance

Payroll is your biggest fixed drain, hitting $68,333 monthly by 2026. This covers seven full-time employees (FTEs), including the CEO and CTO roles. Managing this headcount early dictates your burn rate.

Headcount Cost Drivers

This $68,333 payroll estimate is based on hiring seven key people by 2026. It includes the CEO and CTO salaries, plus five other essential roles needed to run the platform. Remember, this number excludes employer taxes and benefits, which can add another 20% to 30% easily.

Total FTE count: 7
Key roles: CEO, CTO, plus 5 others
Yearly projection: 2026

Controlling Fixed Staffing

You must tightly control headcount until revenue reliably covers fixed costs. Hiring too fast means you burn cash waiting for the platform to scale transactions. Consider contractors for specialized, non-core roles initially.

Delay hiring non-essential roles.
Use contractors before FTE commitments.
Tie hiring to specific revenue milestones.

Burn Rate Warning

Since payroll is the largest fixed expense, any delay in achieving transaction volume means you are burning capital fast. If revenue targets slip past Q3 2026, you defintely need a contingency plan to reduce operating expenses or secure bridge financing immediately.

Running Cost 2 : Office Lease

Lease Overhead

Your physical office space locks in a $12,000 monthly fixed cost that hits your burn rate immediately. This overhead exists whether your platform generates zero revenue or hits its 2026 targets, so you must budget for it from day one.

Cost Inputs

This $12,000 monthly lease payment covers your headquarters, a non-negotiable fixed expense. It sits alongside $25,500 in other core fixed overhead, but it's much smaller than the $68,333 projected payroll. You must cover this amount before earning profit. Here's the quick math on fixed baseline costs:

Office Lease: $12,000 monthly
Software/CRM: $2,500 monthly
Legal/Accounting: $4,000 monthly
Marketing Overhead: $5,000 monthly

Lease Tactics

Real estate is defintely the hardest fixed cost to cut once you sign. If your team is remote-first, avoid signing multi-year agreements early on; that commitment ties up capital. If you need a hub, test flexible co-working arrangements first to keep costs variable longer. You want to keep this number low.

Test hybrid models first.
Avoid long-term lease penalties.
Co-working saves upfront cash.

Fixed Burden

Since the $12,000 lease is fixed, your platform needs high gross profit margins to absorb it fast. With transaction fees eating 35% of revenue, you need significant volume just to cover this fixed operating expense before paying salaries. That fixed cost is a constant drag on your runway.

Running Cost 3 : Cloud Infrastructure

Cloud Cost Classification

Cloud hosting costs are direct costs tied to sales, not overhead. For your platform in 2026, expect server hosting and infrastructure to consume 45% of gross revenue. This classification means these costs scale directly with volume, impacting your gross margin immediately.

Estimating Hosting Spend

This expense covers the servers and resources needed to run the website and process transactions. To forecast this accurately, you need projected gross revenue for 2026 and the assumed 45% COGS rate. It sits directly below revenue on the income statement, which is key for margin analysis.

Covers server uptime and data storage.
Directly scales with platform usage.
Crucial for calculating gross profit margin.

Controlling Infrastructure Spend

Managing infrastructure means optimizing usage patterns. Since it's tied to revenue, efficiency directly boosts margin. Look closely at variable versus reserved instance pricing models offered by providers. Over-provisioning early on is a common mistake, defintely.

Audit resource utilization monthly.
Negotiate reserved capacity deals.
Avoid paying for idle servers.

Margin Impact Warning

A 45% COGS rate for infrastructure is high; most marketplaces aim for 10% to 20% for tech hosting. If your revenue projections are aggressive, this cost will balloon fast. You must drive transaction volume efficiently to cover this major variable cost.

Running Cost 4 : Transaction Fees

Fee Drain

Transaction fees are your second-biggest direct cost after cloud hosting. In 2026, payment gateway fees hit 35% of total revenue. This cost scales directly with every sale made on the platform, meaning managing transaction volume is key to margin health. It's a big lever you can't ignore.

Cost Calculation

These fees cover processing customer payments via gateways. Estimate this cost using projected monthly revenue multiplied by the 35% rate for 2026. Since this is a variable cost, it directly impacts your contribution margin before fixed overhead hits. You need clean data on expected Gross Merchandise Value (GMV).

Projected Monthly Revenue
The fixed 35% rate (2026)
Future rate reduction assumptions

Fee Reduction Tactics

Since this cost is high, look at negotiating rates after hitting volume milestones, maybe $500k in monthly sales. Avoid using multiple high-cost procesors for different deal types. Remember, subscription revenue (a separate stream) bypasses these fees entirely, so push those tiers.

Negotiate better rates post-scale
Consolidate payment gateways
Push higher-margin subscription sales

Margin Reality Check

Compare this 35% fee against the 45% cloud infrastructure cost. Together, these two variable expenses consume 80% of your gross revenue in 2026. Any effort to lower transaction fees must be weighed against the operational complexity it introduces.

Running Cost 5 : General Marketing Overhead

Fixed Marketing Budget

Your fixed general marketing overhead is budgeted at $5,000 per month. This covers necessary brand maintenance and content creation, defintely separate from direct customer acquisition spend. Keep this cost lean until your transaction volume supports it.

What This Covers

This $5,000 line item is purely fixed overhead for marketing that doesn't directly buy users. It funds things like basic PR retainers or essential content tooling, not performance ads. You need quotes for agency retainers or internal content creation capacity to justify this monthly spend.

Covers brand building, not paid ads.
Budgeted at $5k monthly fixed cost.
Separate from variable acquisition spend.

Managing Overhead

Since this is fixed, it pressures your early contribution margin until you hit scale. Avoid bundling this with acquisition spend; keep tracking separate for clear ROI analysis later. If you hire an internal content manager, this $5k might shift into the $68,333 payroll bucket.

Track closely against direct spend.
Keep brand spend lean initially.
Watch for payroll creep replacing services.

Overhead Context

Compared to your $12,000 office lease and $68k in salaries, $5,000 is a smaller fixed line, but it still needs to be covered before you hit break-even. If you spend $5k here and $4k on legal, that's $9k before you even pay for essential software subscriptions.

Running Cost 6 : Software Subscriptions

Fixed Software Outlay

Essential software and the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system demand a fixed $2,500 monthly outlay, setting a baseline operating expense for the platform before any sales occur.

Tooling Cost Breakdown

This $2,500 covers the core digital spine, mainly the CRM for tracking seller relationships and essential support software. Since this is fixed, it hits your burn rate immediately, regardless of transaction volume. You need quotes for seven FTEs needing licenses. If your initial fixed overhead is tight, this cost must be covered by early subscription revenue. You'll defintely need to track utilization.

Covers CRM licenses.
Includes essential support tools.
Fixed overhead before revenue.

Taming Software Spend

Don't pay for enterprise tiers when you're small. Start with the lowest viable tier for your CRM and project management tools. Negotiate annual pricing instead of monthly to shave 10% to 15% off the total. Avoid redundant tools; check if your existing CRM has built-in marketing automation before buying a separate $300/month service.

Negotiate annual contracts.
Consolidate overlapping tools.
Avoid premium tiers early.

Fixed Cost Stacking

At $2,500, software is manageable, but it stacks fast. Add this to the $12,000 office lease and $4,000 legal budget, and you're already at $18,500 in fixed costs before paying staff or marketing. This means your platform needs to generate enough commission and subscription revenue quickly just to cover the lights and the tools.

Running Cost 7 : Legal and Accounting

Legal Budget Baseline

You must budget $4,000 monthly for the professional services needed to keep your deal aggregator legally sound. This fixed cost covers essential compliance and structure management, ensuring you avoid costly regulatory surprises down the line.

Cost Inputs

This $4,000 covers lawyers and accountants handling structure maintenance and compliance for the platform. Inputs are fixed quotes for ongoing advisory and regulatory filings. It's a necessary fixed overhead, sitting alongside your $5,000 marketing overhead.

Covers entity maintenance.
Includes basic tax prep.
Essential for seller contracts.

Managing Legal Spend

Don't try to cut this budget too early; compliance failures cost way more than $4k. Focus on bundling services with one firm to get better rates. If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises, and legal review complexity increases defintely.

Bundle legal and tax work.
Use fixed-fee retainers.
Review scope annually.

Risk Context

Since payroll is $68,333 and cloud costs are 45% of revenue, this $4,000 legal cost is small but critical. If you delay setting up proper seller agreements, you risk massive liability when disputes inevitably happen.