E-Shop Tycoon Beginner Guide — Garage to Second Office

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Use a low-cost garage setup, delay the first office move until cash is stable, then add warehouse and research staff in a controlled order.

Stay in the garage through Milestone 3, build a cash reserve before moving, then open the small office with a minimal warehouse and R&D team.

This route is built from Bill's full-release Steam Community guide, published on July 28, then checked against the developer's 1.0.1–1.0.6 notes. It gives an actual opening sequence rather than asking you to invent one. The balance numbers are community observations, not official guarantees, so compare the price shown in your current build before committing.

1. Set up the garage with Kumru Express, six to nine shelves and a 30-day Print Poster campaign.
2. Use the products unlocked by Milestones 1 and 2 without switching to a more expensive clothing campaign.
3. Reach Milestone 3, add Personal Care Kit and build roughly $15,000 before leaving the garage.
4. In the small office, begin with two warehouse workers and two R&D desks.
5. Unlock Software Development, raise maximum user capacity, then raise acquisition rate.
6. Change to Online Social Media only when monthly income can carry its recurring cost.

Step 1 — Set up the garage

Choose a cargo company first. The documented route uses Kumru Express, which took a 10% cut at the time and remained workable into the third office. Build the four shelves required by the milestone; six to nine shelves gives extra capacity without changing the route.

Open Marketing and run Print Poster for 30 days with auto-renew. It covers stationery, sports and cosmetics, three categories used by the early product unlocks.

Step 2 — Clear the first three milestones

Milestone 1: clothing becomes available. Stock some, but keep the existing Print Poster campaign. Clothing can sell without a dedicated campaign, while switching ads early raises costs.

Milestone 2: prioritize the Gym Pack and Art Pack. Both are already covered by Print Poster. The community route reports that income becomes steadier around 400–500 users as long as stock remains available.

Milestone 3: the next office unlocks, but do not move immediately. Add the Personal Care Kit, which also matches Print Poster, and continue operating in the garage until the business has a reserve. The checked route used about $15,000 before moving.

Step 3 — Build the small office without over-hiring

The small office separates warehouse work from R&D and software development. Start with two warehouse workers and two R&D desks. More employees increase fixed costs, so add them only when the existing team cannot keep products moving.

When hiring researchers, reroll the candidate list and compare star rating with monthly salary. The community guide found five-star researchers around $100 per month; treat that as a July 28 benchmark, not a guaranteed current offer.

Step 4 — Unlock software development

Research software development, then hire one strong developer. The documented route found a five-star developer around $250 per month. Improve maximum user capacity first, followed by acquisition rate. Capacity prevents marketing from sending traffic into an avoidable ceiling.

Step 5 — Move to online marketing only after income supports it

The route changes to Online Social Media after monthly income reaches roughly $7,500 and Online Marketing has been researched. A 30-day auto-renew campaign cost about $4,600 in the July 28 build. Check the live price: hotfix 1.0.1 adjusted marketing costs by office, and later updates changed customer timing.

After the campaign begins, expand warehouse staffing and replace small racks only when order volume creates a real stock or packaging queue. Hotfixes 1.0.4–1.0.6 increased forklift stack size and packaging speed, so older warehouse staffing ratios should not be copied blindly.

Sources

• E-Shop Tycoon on Steam
• Bill's full-release Beginner Guide
• Official patch history through 1.0.6