Course 1 of 4 · Beginner · 6 lessons · 31 min
Start your online business in India
“I want to start selling online, properly”
The six decisions to make before you build anything: what to sell, what to charge, what to call it, where to sell, the money basics, and how to find your first ten customers.
For: Anyone with a product idea, an Instagram page that gets DMs, or a shop that wants to sell beyond its lane.
Most online businesses in India start the same way: a few photos on Instagram, orders in DMs, payment by UPI screenshot, and a parcel booked from the nearest courier shop. It works for the first twenty orders. Then it breaks — you forget who paid, you type the same address three times, and a customer who found you at midnight has to wait until morning to be told the price.
This course is the thinking you do before you build a store, so that the store you build is the right one. Six short lessons, each ending with one thing to write down. By the end you will know what you sell, what it costs you, what you charge, what you call it, how customers pay you, and who your first ten customers are. Then Build your website and Open your online store take you from there.
Nothing to buy
You do not need a SitesPlaced account for this course, and when you do build, publishing is free. The only things this course asks you to spend are an evening and a notebook.
Lessons
- 1
Decide what to sell
Start from what you can get your hands on this month, check that people already want it, and keep the first batch small.
5 min
- 2
Price it so you actually make money
Add up every rupee a sale costs you — including delivery, payment fees and returns — before you choose a price.
6 min
- 3
Pick a name and a look you can keep
Choose a name that is free on Instagram and as a domain, then settle one colour, one font and one kind of photo.
4 min
- 4
Instagram DMs vs your own store
Why DM ordering stops working after the first few dozen orders, and how a store with a link fixes it without replacing Instagram.
5 min
- 5
Money and paperwork basics
A separate UPI ID, a simple record of every order, a returns policy you can stand behind, and the registrations that are worth doing early.
6 min
- 6
Find your first ten customers
Where the first orders really come from — people who already know you — and how to ask without being annoying.
5 min
After this course: Build your website on SitesPlaced