Market size, startup costs, break-even, pricing, margins, customer cost, payroll, insurance, funding and the hard growth calls — test every idea against honest maths before you spend real money on it. The full detailed report costs less than a coffee: $2.95.
Shop or website first is one of the first big forks in a small business, and the answer is not 'both'. A physical shop starts paying rent, fit-out and staff before the first customer arrives; an online store's costs are lighter but marketing-hungry, and its economics change with every sale. The honest answer depends on your product: its price, weight, and whether customers repurchase. This guide walks the real cost structure of each channel and the cheap experiments — markets, pop-ups, pre-order pages — that answer the demand question before you commit to either.
An honest comparison of selling through a physical shop versus online first — real costs, real margins, and the questions that decide which suits your product.
It is a good strategy and a bad starting position. Cash and focus are the two things new businesses lack; splitting both across two channels usually means doing both badly. Prove demand in one channel first.
Low-priced, high-repeat, impulse or heavy items — coffee, skincare, groceries, anything customers want today. A shop's advantage is immediacy and trust, which matters most when the buying decision is quick.
Considered purchases over roughly $100 — furniture, electronics, niche goods, services — where customers research before buying. Online also suits light, shippable products with a story that a website can tell better than a shelf.
Every tool answers instantly from our own knowledge base and calculators — no AI cost, no waiting, no account. Want the deeper, personalised version? Each has a $2.95 full report.