The Cost of Starting a Business in Australia (2026)
Before a business takes a dollar, the fit-out bill has landed: an office runs about $3,220 a square metre (JLL, 2025) and a cafe $100,000 to $350,000. Here is what it costs to open the doors in 2026.
- An Australian office fit-out runs about $3,220 a square metre for a moderate build (JLL, 2025); a cafe lands between $100,000 and $350,000 (Hospitality Hub).
- Equipment, not finishes, is the big cost. In a cafe it is 40% to 60% of the whole cafe fitout ($360,000) (Hospitality Hub).
- The dearest doors to open are clinical: a dental fitout ($875,000), veterinary fitout ($790,000) or medical fitout ($725,000) clears a million once compliance, plumbing and equipment are counted.
- The hidden lever is the tenancy: the same restaurant fitout ($900,000) costs wildly different amounts depending on whether grease traps, exhaust and three-phase power are already there.
The fit-out is the first bill
Before marketing, before stock, before a single customer, there is the fit-out. JLL benchmarks a moderate Australian office at about $3,220 a square metre, and Hospitality Hub puts a cafe at $100,000 to $350,000 all in. The single biggest line in a food business is not the joinery, it is the equipment, at 40% to 60% of the total.
Hospitality is its own beast
A cafe fitout ($360,000), a full restaurant fitout ($900,000) and the commercial kitchen ($475,000) inside it are driven less by finishes than by services. Two identical-looking cafes can differ by six figures purely on whether the tenancy already has the exhaust, gas, grease trap and drainage a kitchen needs.
The clinical fit-outs that top the list
The most expensive doors to open are medical. A dental fitout ($875,000), a medical fitout ($725,000) or a veterinary fitout ($790,000) runs past a million dollars once you add the compliance, the specialised plumbing and power, and the equipment the trade demands.
Then you have to insure it
A fit-out is not the last bill before trading. Public liability and the covers around it are the recurring cost of keeping the doors open, and a business insurance ($6,300) scales with turnover and risk long after the builders leave.
The full price list
The 40 dearest of 60 services, typical 2026 cost. Each links to the live calculator for the full range.
Sources
More cost research: The Cost of Dying in Australia · The Cost of a Wedding in Australia · The Cost of Owning a Car in Australia · The Cost of Owning a Pet in Australia · The Cost of a Holiday from Australia · The Real Cost of Renovating in Australia