The Real Numbers

E-Commerce Business vs Franchise.
The Cost Comparison That Might Shock You.

Before you invest in any business, you need to see the real numbers. Here’s an honest, line-by-line breakdown of what each model actually costs — every single month.

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Line by Line

What You Actually Pay
Every Single Month

No spin. No fine print. Just the real, honest costs of both business models sitting side by side.

Cost Item
E-Commerce Store
From $12,990 to set up
Franchise / Retail Store
$30k–$500k+ to set up

Upfront / Setup Cost
One-off investment to get started
From $12,990
Store built & ready to sell
$30,000 – $500,000+
Franchise fee before you open

Rent / Lease
Monthly premises cost
$0
Run from anywhere
$3,000 – $15,000+/mo
Paid whether you sell or not

Staff Wages
2–4 employees minimum
$0
You run it yourself
$12,000 – $25,000+/mo
Plus super, insurance & leave

Superannuation (12%)
Mandatory on top of wages
$0
No employees
$1,440 – $3,000+/mo
On top of wages

Electricity, Gas & Utilities
Outgoings, rates, body corporate
$0
No premises
$1,000 – $3,500+/mo
Fixed regardless of sales

Insurance
Public liability, workers comp, business
Minimal
Simple product liability if needed
$350 – $1,100+/mo
Multiple mandatory policies

Stock / Inventory
Product you need to hold or buy
$0 if dropshipping
Or buy stock only as orders come in — you’re never out of pocket before a sale
$5,000 – $30,000+ upfront
Cash tied up on shelves before a single sale

Fit-Out, POS & Equipment
Shopfitting, registers, hardware
$0
Your store is online
$1,200 – $3,800+/mo
Amortised over lease term

Royalty & Marketing Levy
Ongoing franchise fees on revenue
$0
Your revenue is yours
5% – 13% of gross revenue
Forever. Not profit — revenue.

Platform & Tools
Software to run the business
~$290/mo fixed
Shopify, email, AI tools & more
$200 – $800+/mo
POS, merchant fees, software

Marketing / Advertising
Getting customers in the door
~$1,800/mo
Performance-based — should return more than it costs
$500 – $2,000+/mo
On top of all other fixed costs

Rough Monthly Total
Before you’ve made a single sale
~$2,090/mo
($290 fixed + ~$1,800 ads)
$20,000 – $60,000+/mo
All fixed. Owed whether you sell or not.

What’s Inside the $290

Your Full E-Commerce
Monthly Tool Stack

Here’s exactly what you’re paying for each month — and what each tool actually does for your business.

Tool
Monthly Cost

Shopify — Store Platform
Your online store. Handles products, checkout, payments and orders. Start on the Basic plan — upgrade as you scale.

~$51 AUD/mo

Domain Name
Your store’s web address (yourstore.com.au). Billed annually — tiny cost, essential for credibility.

~$1.70 AUD/mo

Email Hosting
Gives you a professional branded email (you@yourstore.com) instead of Gmail — builds trust with customers.

~$6.70 AUD/mo

Klaviyo — Email & SMS Marketing
Free to start, then scales as your subscriber list grows. Your email list is one of your most valuable business assets.

Free → ~$20 USD/mo

Upsell App
Lifts your average order value automatically. Pays for itself quickly by increasing revenue from orders you’re already getting.

~$20/mo

AI Assistant (ChatGPT / Claude) SAVES 10–15 HRS/MO
Writes product descriptions, ad copy, emails and customer replies in minutes. One of the highest-leverage tools on this list.

~$30 AUD/mo

EcomBot — Social Content SAVES 8–10 HRS/MO
Creates and manages your social posts so you stay consistent without living inside the apps every day.

$49 USD/mo

Arc Ads — Video Creatives SAVES 8–12 HRS/MO
Professional-style video reels for your ads — without hiring a videographer, editor or creative agency.

$110 USD/mo

Ad Spend (Meta / Google)
This isn’t a sunk cost — it’s a performance investment. Done right, every dollar in should bring more than a dollar back out.

~$1,800/mo

Stock / Inventory
With dropshipping your supplier only charges you after a customer pays you — $0 upfront. Or choose to hold your own stock and buy as orders come in. Either way, you’re never out of pocket before a sale.

$0 (dropship)

Rough Monthly Total
Strip out the ads and your fixed running costs are just ~$290/month

~$2,090 AUD/mo

Time Is Money

Run Your Store in
About an Hour a Day

The AI and automation tools in your stack aren’t just software costs — they replace 30+ hours a month of work you’d otherwise have to do manually. Compare that to a franchise, where you’re managing staff, rosters, compliance and cash handling on top of everything else.

E-Commerce Store Owner

~1 hr/day

That’s all it takes to run your store on average — because the AI and automation tools handle the heavy lifting for you. They save you 30+ hours a month of writing, content creation and video work you’d otherwise have to do yourself. You get your time back.

Franchise / Retail Owner

50–60+ hrs/mo

Managing staff rosters, training, compliance, supplier orders, opening and closing, cash handling — and you’re still paying $60,000+ a month in fixed costs for the privilege. You don’t own a business. You own a job.

The Bottom Line

Every Business Has Costs.
The Question Is What Kind.

Fixed bills you owe no matter what — or smart investments that grow with you? One model chains you to a lease, a payroll and a franchisor’s rules. The other lets you build from your laptop, scale without adding overhead, and keep every dollar you earn.

E-Commerce Fixed Costs

~$290

per month

vs

Franchise Fixed Costs

$60,000+

per month

Book a Free Strategy Call →

No pressure. Just an honest conversation about whether this is right for you.