Starting a business is an expensive process. If you’re looking to form a new tech startup, you’ll have to make sure you have budgeted accordingly. That process requires you to consider all your potential expenses.

You probably already know the big-ticket items to consider. Expenses like equipment, office space and salaries are easy to think of and all crucial to planning a robust budget. But there are likely a few less obvious things you’re missing.

With all that goes into starting a business, it’s only natural you’d overlook a thing or two. But when planning a successful startup, you can’t afford to miss these costs. Here are seven of the most commonly overlooked expenses you should consider.

• Data Costs

Data rules business today, and it doesn’t always come cheap. Any business in the modern world is going to gather and use a lot of digital data, especially a tech company. It may not immediately come to mind, but data can be one of your most vital expenses.

One of the most substantial data-related costs you’ll encounter is web hosting. What you’ll have to pay depends on what you need your website to do, so prices can range from $4 a month to more than $200 a month. You probably don’t need to shell out for the most expensive service, but you shouldn’t opt for the cheapest, either.

You can get free data, but the options for what you can do with it are limited. If you want to build a successful business, you can’t rely on free services, so you’ll have to plan around data costs.

• Taxes

You’ll have to pay business taxes regularly for as long as you’re in operation, but many startups overlook them in the initial budget. As a business, you’ll have to account for several different taxes. If you’re not ready to pay them, you could get into a sticky situation, both financially and legally.

You may have already considered your company’s income and sales tax, but there are still others you might have to pay. If your business owns any property, you’ll need to pay property tax. Depending on your business, you may also have to consider excise tax, self-employment tax, payroll tax and dividend taxes. 

What taxes you have to pay depends on where you are how your company operates. But no matter the specifics, you can be sure that you’ll have to give quite a bit back to the government.

• Employee Benefits

Employee salaries are one thing, but you also need to consider benefits. You may not be able to offer much at first, but desirable benefits can attract skilled and loyal employees. Not only that, but the law requires you to provide them to some extent.

On top of a reasonable salary, you’ll have to provide various forms of insurance, as well as Social Security and related programs. Depending on the size and location of your company, you may also have to offer family and medical leave. 

All of these benefit-related expenses are why excess staff is one of the most common areas of wasted revenue for tech startups. When you start, start small to keep employee costs to a minimum.

• Signage

You see business signs every day, but still may not think of them when establishing an initial budget. They may not immediately come to mind, but signs play a critical role in running a successful company. A well-designed billboard or roadside sign can entice potential customers, and signage does more than just advertising, too.

When your business is just starting, you need to get the word out. Part of this is attracting clientele, but you also need to let people know where you are, not just what you do. Signs direct people to your location.

Signage is a chance to portray the mood of your business as well. The colors, fonts and design you use, however subtle, are all indicators of what kind of company you run. If you want people to know about your business, you’re going to want some decent signage.

• Trademarks

The last thing you want as a small business is legal trouble. You may not be able to afford an entire legal department at first, but you can take steps to protect yourself. Before you start advertising or even filing as a business, you’ll need to consider your trademarks and copyrights.

Trademarking your company’s name and image and buying domains will help you with two issues. First, it’ll help you make sure you’re not infringing on anyone else’s copyrighted material, keeping you out of hot water. Second, it’ll make sure you protect your brand’s image from copycats when you start to grow. 

Copyrighting all variants of your company’s name and domain is necessary, but not cheap. You need to make sure you have room in your budget for it.

• Insurance

Your employees’ health care is not the only insurance you have to plan for in your budget. Working in tech involves a lot of expensive equipment and materials that you’d want to keep safe. Protect your investments by insuring your property and other assets.

On top of property insurance, you’ll want to make sure you get liability coverage to protect you from potential lawsuits. Depending on where you are, the law may even require you to have a certain extent of coverage. 

Whether or not you have the legal obligation to, you should pay for a well-rounded insurance plan. Without it, you could lose a considerable amount of money if an accident occurs, or even risk legal trouble. Make sure you include insurance costs in your budget.

• Accounting

At this point, you’ve probably noticed that running a business includes a lot of different numbers. You can’t expect yourself to handle both the day-to-day business concerns and crunching all the numbers at once. You’ll be better off with an accountant or two.

Handling the accounts of an entire business is a full-time job, so you need someone to do it full-time. As with everything else, you can start small, maybe even with a single accountant, and expand as your business does. But no matter the size of it, you’ll want an accounting department to help you with all of your expenses.

You should keep in mind that your expenses won’t always stay the same. Your budget should change to fit current needs as your business moves into different phases. Continually reevaluate your budget, and make sure you never overlook any significant expenses.