🎧 Listen to the podcast (about 13½ minutes, two Aussie hosts)
Prepared for Kotha, a Gold Coast GP who builds small web apps. Prices were checked on official pages on 14 Oct 2026. Prices change, so check the page before you pay anything. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
| Item | What it is | Cost (from 1 July 2026) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABN | Australian Business Number. You need it to trade and invoice | Free | business.gov.au, ABR |
| Business name | Needed only if you trade under a name other than your own legal name | $47 for 1 yr / $108 for 3 yrs | business.gov.au, ASIC |
| Pty Ltd company | Separate legal entity with limited liability, its own tax return and director duties | $636 to register, $342 annual review | ASIC fee schedule |
| Director ID | Required before you become a company director | Free | ABRS |
| GST | Compulsory once GST turnover reaches $75,000 (rideshare drivers must register from $0). Optional below that | Free | ATO |
Sole trader vs company, in plain words - Sole trader: cheapest and simplest. Business income goes on your personal tax return at your marginal rate, and you're personally liable. Since your GP income already puts you in a high bracket, side-business profit gets taxed at that same high rate. - Company: company tax rate (25% for base-rate entities), limited liability, and more paperwork and fees. Talk to an accountant before you switch. A trust or company structure can matter a lot for someone on a doctor's income. - Other things to check: domain name (.com.au needs an ABN), trademark search on IP Australia, Australian Consumer Law obligations (ACCC), privacy (Privacy Act), and insurance (professional indemnity and public liability).
You don't need most of these. You can ship on Cloudflare Pages/Workers, Vercel or Netlify for close to $0. Use a builder only when it saves you real time, for example inventory and shipping for physical goods.
| Tool | Best for | Indicative price |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Physical products, inventory, shipping, checkout | Basic $42/mo yearly ($56 monthly). Shopify Payments 1.7% + 30c on AU cards. Extra 2% if you use a third-party payment provider. Currently 3-day trial, then $1/mo for 3 months |
| WooCommerce | WordPress stores you control yourself | Free plugin. You pay for hosting and extensions |
| Squarespace / Wix | Polished brochure sites with simple selling | Monthly plans. See their pricing pages |
| Framer / Webflow | Designer-quality marketing sites and landing pages | Free tiers. Paid plans for custom domains |
| Square Online | Simplest free store, plus in-person sales later | $0 plan, 2.2% per online sale |
| AI app builders: Lovable, Bolt, v0 (Vercel), Replit | Turning a prompt into a working prototype in hours | Free tiers, then roughly US$20–25/mo credit plans |
| Your stack: Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify | Fast, cheap custom sites and apps | Generous free tiers |
Tip: Use v0 or Lovable to mock up a landing page in an afternoon. Deploy it on Cloudflare, add a Stripe Payment Link and an email signup, and you have a market test for about $0.
| Provider | Online fee in AU | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 1.65% + A$0.30 domestic cards; 3.5% + A$0.30 international (incl. GST) | No monthly fee. Payment Links need no website. $25 dispute fee. Stripe Tax and Billing cost extra. Stripe's "Managed Payments" merchant-of-record option adds 3.5% |
| Square | 2.2% online / card-not-present; 1.6% in person | Free online store plan. Good if you also sell face to face |
| PayPal | 2.90% + fixed fee domestic commercial; 1.50% + fixed fee for its hosted card payments | Some buyers trust it. International fees are higher |
| Paddle (merchant of record) | 5% + 50c all-in (USD) | Handles worldwide sales tax, VAT and GST, invoices and chargebacks. Suited to software and SaaS |
| Lemon Squeezy (merchant of record) | 5% + 50c, plus 1.5% international and 0.5% subscriptions | Owned by Stripe since 2024. New signups have reportedly been limited in 2026 |
What is a merchant of record? They legally sell the product to your customer and pay you the balance. They take on the global tax headache, so you don't have to register for EU VAT or US sales tax yourself. That's worth it for digital products sold worldwide. If you mainly sell to Australians, plain Stripe is cheaper.
| Platform | Model | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Gumroad | 10% + 50c on direct sales (plus card processing); 30% on sales from its Discover marketplace. Merchant of record since Jan 2025 | Fastest way to sell an ebook, template or download |
| Kajabi | Monthly subscription (premium) | All-in-one course, website, email and community |
| Teachable | Free and paid plans plus transaction fees | Online courses |
| Podia | Low monthly plans | Courses, downloads, webinars and an email list in one place |
| Substack | Free to start; takes 10% of paid subscriptions | Paid newsletter or writing |
| Patreon | Percentage of membership income | Fan or community memberships |
For you: a template, checklist or explainer course (for example "medical admin templates for clinics", or non-clinical topics) sells well through Gumroad, or through your own site with Stripe.
| Need | Use | Cost to start |
|---|---|---|
| Legal setup | ABN (sole trader), plus a business name if needed | $0–$47 |
| Website | Your own static site on Cloudflare Pages/Workers (or Vercel), mocked up with v0 or Lovable | ~$0 + domain (~$15–25/yr) |
| Payments | Stripe Payment Links (switch to Paddle or Gumroad for global digital sales) | 1.65% + 30c per sale |
| Email list | MailerLite or Kit free plan | $0 |
| Local presence | Google Business Profile + Search Console | $0 |
| Accounts | Separate bank account + Xero (or a spreadsheet until revenue arrives) | $0 to ~$35/mo |
| Design | Canva free | $0 |
| Automation | n8n (self-host) or Zapier free | $0 |
Your first 30 days: pick one problem → build a one-page offer → add Stripe Payment Link + email capture → talk to 20 potential buyers → only then build the full product.