Not my usual Thursday send, but I had to get it out.

You know, most people who want to start an online store don’t fail because they picked the wrong product, or ran out of money, or didn’t know enough about marketing.

They fail because they waited. And kept waiting. Until waiting became the plan.

I’ve watched this happen up close.

Yesterday, I had lunch with a few of my old friends.

We were just talking about life, how things turned out, and yes, the cost of living, the usual.

And at some point one of them goes quiet, looks at his plate, and says, “You guys remember, that batik thing, I should have just done it, man.”

Well, I remember he had this idea a few years back.

Selling handmade batik fabric online, the kind of stuff tourists go crazy for but can never find once they leave the island.

He knew the makers. He knew the craft. He had the whole thing mapped out in his head.

“So what stopped you, dude?” I asked.

“I tried DMing people on Instagram, posted a few photos, got some replies, even a couple asking about prices. But then someone asked me how to pay and I just… froze. I didn’t even know how I get paid. I told them I’d get back to them and never did.”

"So you actually had buyers and you still gave up?"

He laughed. Kind of painfully.

“I kept thinking I had to figure out everything first. You know, shipping to other countries, which platform, how to deal with returns. I just wanted it to be proper before I put it out there.”

“Did you ever set any of that up?”

He shook his head.

That’s it. That’s the whole story. He didn’t fail. He just never started.

And now someone else is selling batik fabric online and making decent money, and my friend is sitting across from me at lunch wondering what would have happened.

Thing is, the cost of not starting is invisible.

You don’t see it on any bill. You just see it later, as someone else’s success story.

But my friend’s problem wasn’t skill or money either. It wasn’t even the product, because he already had people asking to buy.

It was that he didn’t know getting paid online could be dead simple.

He thought he had to figure out all of it by himself.

How do I collect money from someone overseas? What if a local buyer wants to pay cash on delivery, do I even support that?

If someone places an order, do I have to manually arrange shipping every single time?

What my friend didn’t know is that platforms exist today that handle all of that for you. Set it up once, and someone can buy from you from the other side of the world.

He just didn’t know that kind of door existed.

And the only thing standing between you and finding out if this works is $3 and a weekend.

That gets you 3 full months with a real online store, a checkout that handles shipping, and it lets you accept payments from anywhere in the world.

You either find out it works, or you find out it doesn’t. Either way you stop wondering.

My friend is still wondering. Three years later, at lunch, staring at his plate.

​Here's my full take on whether that door is actually worth it.

Cheers,

Minosh

If you’re ready to give it a shot, start your store here for $3.

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