When $2,000/Month Software Costs More Than Your Entire Business: Why Indonesia's Small Traders Are Building With AI

When $2,000/Month Software Costs More Than Your Entire Business: Why Indonesia's Small Traders Are Building With AI I was sitting in a warung in Jakarta last month, watching a woman manage her fabric business on a single Google Sheet. She'd been doing this for twelve years—tracking inventory, customer orders, payment schedules, supplier communications. Everything. In one spreadsheet. When I asked why she didn't use proper business software, she laughed. "Have you seen the prices? Salesforce wants $165 a month. Zoho wants $50. I make maybe $800 a month profit. How is that math supposed to work?" She's not an exception. She's the rule. The Math That Doesn't Add Up Indonesia has approximately 65 million small businesses. Most are like hers: sole proprietorships or family operations running on thin margins. A warung owner. A tailoring shop. A small trading company. A freelance consultant working from home. Enterprise software, even the "affordable" versions, typically start at $50-200 per