I can build my own Shopify store in 90 days? Start here.

Somebody told you that you could build your own Shopify store in 90 days. Pick a theme, upload the products, turn on ads, and the orders show up. I believed a version of that too, about twenty years ago, and I have been running stores ever since. This is the book I wish someone had handed me before the first one.

What this is. A curated set of articles, each one built around a thing e-commerce told you that turned out to be a lie, half a lie, or true for exactly one kind of store. Each piece names the lie, shows what actually happened to me or to a founder who said it out loud in public (credited, every time), and ends with what to do instead.

The rules I am writing this under

• If a number cannot be traced to a source, it does not go in. No “studies show.”
• Other people’s stories are credited by name and linked. Mine are mine.
• Every article ends with something you can do this week, not a mood board.
• Made by a human. Run by robots. No AI product photos, no invented customers, anywhere in this section.

How to read it

Start anywhere. Each lie stands on its own. The first release is about thirty pieces, and they will land here as they are finished, newest first. The free downloads that go with the series live on the holiday prep page and will be linked from each article that uses them.

The lies, in rough order

1. I can build my own store in 90 days.
2. The theme does the design.
3. If the product is good, it sells itself.
4. Turn on ads and the orders come.
5. Free shipping is free.
6. More products means more sales.
7. Print on demand has no inventory risk.
8. The AI will do the product photos.
9. Social followers are customers.
10. You can skip email.

Ten of thirty. The rest come as I finish them. If you have a lie you were sold that is not on the list, tell me and I will add it to the queue, with credit if you want it.