What's inside

Twelve chapters, about 20,000 words.

1. Chapter 1 The Shop You Keep Meaning to Start
   Most people I know have a shop in their head. Maybe it's candles.
2. Chapter 2 Finding Something Worth Selling
   The most common way to pick a product is to make what you like and hope other people like it too. Sometimes that works.
3. Chapter 3 Scouting Suppliers
   If you make everything yourself, you can skip ahead to Chapter 4. But many small shops sell at least some products they don't make.
4. Chapter 4 Making It Yourself: 3D Printing and Other Small-Batch Goods
   If you make your own products, you already know the making isn't the only work. There's designing, testing, working out materials, keeping the machines busy, tracking what's been made and figuring out what each item actually costs you.
5. Chapter 5 Setting Up the Store
   A store is where everything comes together. Products, prices, photos, policies, shipping, payments.
6. Chapter 6 Listings That Sell
   A listing is everything a customer sees about one product: the title, the photos, the description, the price and the details. It's your only salesperson for that product, and it works all night.
7. Chapter 7 Pricing and the Numbers
   Most people start a shop because they like making or finding things. Very few start one because they love spreadsheets.
8. Chapter 8 Reaching Out to Buyers
   A store with no visitors is a well-organized warehouse. People have to find it.
9. Chapter 9 Customer Email Without the Inbox Dread
   Customer email is a funny job. Most of it is easy.
10. Chapter 10 Orders, Stock and the Boring Middle
    Every business has a boring middle. It's not the exciting part, like a new product launch.
11. Chapter 11 When It Grows
    Here's the good problem. The shop works.
12. Chapter 12 Staying the Owner
    Your shop now has a team. Research, sourcing, making, store, listings, numbers, outreach, service, operations.