Four out of five start-ups are profitable within the first three years

Companies in the culture industry become profitable quickly, while startups in healthcare or human resources take longer. That was the finding of a survey of 500 entrepreneurs by Sumup.

84 percent of German companies become profitable within the first three years. That's according to a survey of 500 entrepreneurs in Germany by Sumup. The startup also asked them about the profitability of their businesses, their startup capital, and the challenges and benefits of entrepreneurship.

40.3 percent of the companies surveyed said they had been profitable after one to two years. 36.6 percent took three years to be in the black. In contrast, only 1.2 percent of the companies surveyed took longer than five years to become profitable. In the arts and culture sector, around a quarter of all companies even manage to be profitable in less than one year. In the healthcare and human resources sectors, none of the companies surveyed managed to do so.

Meanwhile, the highest start-up capital is found in the travel and transportation sector: On average, founders in this sector invested around 129,000 euros in start-up capital. 22 percent of respondents invested between 25,000 and 50,000 euros - the amount needed to set up a limited liability company or stock corporation. Respondents identified accounting, time management, tax returns, customer service and sales as the biggest challenges facing their companies.