Great question Mohammad Nasfikur Rahman Khan A startup will also go through the conventional life cycle of any business - incorporation, growth, stability and decline. However, before the launch, a startup can have a long period of experimentation and product/ service testing which involves considerable cost and effort. Usually, these costs are not tracked and accounted for as there is no registered legal entity ( company) at this point. But your budgeting exercise must start from this phase and these expenses can be included as R&D expenses, provided they are tracked and accounted for. The rest will depend on your GTM strategy and expansion plans. Hope this helps.