<b>Ch. 9: What My "$0" Site Actually Cost</b>

<b>Ch. 9: What My "$0" Site Actually Cost</b>

I told people my pet-care site was nearly free to start. The real ledger, after I bothered to add it up over year one:

— Domain + hosting: $94
— Content (60 posts, mix of me + writers): $2,640
— Original photos / product buys to review: $810
— Tools (rank tracker, SEO suite for 8 months): $640
— Link outreach + 3 placements: $900

Total: $5,084. The site crossed $0 net in month 11. It earned $5,100 total by month 16 — meaning my actual breakeven was a year and a half in, not the "profitable by month 6" I'd been telling myself.

It's a real asset now at $9k/yr, but I'd badly underestimated the runway. Two friends quit identical sites at month 7, broke and convinced niche sites "don't work."

<b>Lesson banked:</b> budget 18 months of runway, not 6. Most sites die in the gap between real costs and delayed revenue.