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Having a hundred grand for a startup is sweet. "The average small business starts with less than $10,000," says small-business expert Susan Solovic. The typical time to turn a profit is two years. With a fairly uncomplicated, low-overhead business like consulting, you can deploy your 100K like this while you wait: As much as $5,000 for upfront legal help; $12,000 for an accountant (over two years); the bulk of the rest for living expenses and a reserve for a 30- to 90-day gap between invoices and payments.