If you have money NOT at risk of losing, you can not take a loss on schedule C. If you don't know what it means then probably All your Investment is at Risk (check Box 32a). It means you are using your own money for the business. People usually check the wrong box.
If you need to find where to change the At Risk box on line 32 here are my old notes. Hopefully they still work or will get you close.
Go back to your Self-Employment Income. Click on Edit to review your business entries. Then scroll down to Uncommon Situations, click Edit and check or uncheck the box. If your investment is at risk, don't check the box. You may need to delete Form 6198 if you had the box checked and are now unchecking it. How to delete forms https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-forms/view-delete-forms-turbotax-onl...
You can get back to the question about your business investment being at risk by going to the Schedule C and finding the Final Details > Special Situations section (if using TurboTax Home and Business) or the Uncommon Situations section (if using TurboTax Online). One user said…. Scroll to the bottom of the screen until you see the Uncommon Situations section, then click Start or Edit beside Carryovers, limitations, at risk information.
Within those sections, there will be a check-box to indicate 'I have money invested in this business that I'm not at risk of losing; that is, certain cash, property, or borrowed amounts that are protected from loss.' Uncheck that box if your investment in your business is not at risk.
