Building an FC back from the brink is never easy. I have had to do it with some of my closest friends 3 or 4 times now, we have never wanted to be huge, enough to field an 8-man or 2 is more than enough. I am on a smaller server (Coeurl), so population itself is an issue, as well as blind inviting (which, personally, I find very impersonal and sometimes even rude) picking up the people for the already larger FC's where it feels like you are not a member, just a number. As far as paying for websites, many places let you host for free, with limited control. Discord is safe and free for a decently large swath (even 8 people online is a full 8-man content group, after all). Sometimes it is just better to aim for a small/medium size FC, enough to keep your credits active, head afloat, and enough to make friends, then you can expand out from there. Its a determination factor, simply put.