How to start a business in 10 steps

Are you thinking about starting an online business but don't know where to begin?

Starting an online business no longer necessarily requires a physical store, a large team, or a significant upfront investment. Today, you can reach customers online, showcase your products in an e-commerce store, take orders, and market them from almost anywhere.

However, simply creating an online store doesn't mean sales will start rolling in automatically. Success depends on a series of interconnected decisions and steps, from choosing the right business idea and product to researching the market, building your store, optimizing product pages and payment methods, and eventually managing marketing, shipping, and performance analysis.

In this guide, we'll walk you through 10 practical steps to start an online business from scratch, from choosing your idea to receiving your first orders, with tips to help you build a solid foundation and grow your business after launch.

What Do You Need to Start an Online Business?

Before diving into the details, here's a quick overview of the process:

Business idea → Market research → Product selection → Finding a supplier → Building your online store → Optimizing product pages and checkout → Choosing payment methods → Testing your store → Marketing → Shipping and customer experience → Analyzing results and optimizing performance

Details may vary by business, but understanding this process helps you identify what to do first and what comes next.

1. Choose a Clear Online Business Idea

Every successful business starts with an idea, but choosing one simply because it sounds appealing isn't enough. Before investing in products or advertising, you need to confirm that there is a real market need and that you can reach an audience interested in what you offer.

Start by asking yourself a few simple questions:

• What problem does your product or service solve?
• Who might need it?
• Are customers actively looking for this type of product?
• Who are your current competitors?
• What could make your offer stand out?
• Can you achieve a reasonable profit margin?

How to Find the Right Business Idea

Your business idea might come from your interests or expertise, but personal interest shouldn't be the only factor guiding your decision.

Also, pay attention to:

• Problems people are looking for solutions to.
• Products attracting growing interest.
• Questions customers frequently ask.
• Products already on the market that have quality, pricing, or shopping-experience issues.
• Niches where you can offer additional value.

You can use search engines, e-commerce platforms, social media, and online communities to discover customer needs and identify ideas worth exploring.

A good business idea doesn't have to be entirely new. It could be an existing product that you present more effectively or offer to a more specific audience.

2. Research the Market and Your Competitors

Once you've identified a potential business idea, the next important step is market research.

Market research helps you understand your target audience, existing prices, competitors, available opportunities, and the problems customers face. You don't need an elaborate research process to get started. You can begin with a few practical questions.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Try to define the following characteristics:

• Age group
• Geographic location
• Needs and problems
• Purchasing power
• Shopping habits
• Platforms they use
• Factors that influence their purchasing decisions

The better you understand your audience, the easier it becomes to choose the right product and communicate with potential customers in a way that resonates with them.

Who Are Your Competitors?

Look for online stores selling similar products and pay attention to:

• Product prices
• How products are presented
• Product images and videos
• Sales offers
• Payment methods
• Shipping costs
• Customer reviews
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Recurring questions and complaints in customer feedback

Don't research competitors just to see what they're doing. Look for opportunities to improve their approach or offer something different.

Where Can You Find This Information?

Useful sources include:

• Search engines
• E-commerce websites
• Social media platforms
• Customer reviews
• Online forums and specialized communities
• Keyword research tools
• Relevant market reports and studies

It's also helpful to organize your findings in a simple spreadsheet so you can compare products, competitors, and prices instead of relying solely on assumptions.

3. Choose the Right Product to Sell

After researching the market, it's time to move from your business idea to the product you'll sell.

Choosing the right product is one of the most important decisions you'll make when starting an e-commerce business. Strong marketing and a well-designed store can't easily compensate for a product with insufficient demand or an unprofitable margin.

What Makes a Product Suitable for Online Selling?

There's no single formula that guarantees a product's success, but you can evaluate it using several criteria:

• There is genuine demand for it.
• It solves a clear problem or meets a specific need.
• It offers a reasonable profit margin.
• It's easy to store and ship.
• It's unlikely to be damaged during shipping.
• It can be differentiated from competing products.
• You can create a better offer or shopping experience around it.
• It appeals to a clearly defined audience you can target.

It's also important to consider the post-purchase customer experience. A product that looks appealing in an advertisement but generates high return rates or frequent complaints can quickly become a burden on your business.

Tip: Don't rely on intuition alone when choosing a product. Gather data, monitor the market, research competitors, and test demand before investing in large quantities.

4. Find a Reliable Supplier

Once you've chosen your product, you need to decide how you'll source it. Depending on your business model and the type of product you're selling, you can work with manufacturers, suppliers, or wholesalers.

However, price shouldn't be your only consideration when choosing a supplier.

Compare Suppliers Based on These Criteria

Whenever possible, test the product or order a sample before purchasing large quantities.

You can find suppliers through wholesale platforms, manufacturers, and specialized marketplaces. Always verify their reliability and review their terms before committing to a purchase.

5. Build Your Online Store

Once you've selected your product and supplier, you'll need a place to showcase your products and receive orders.

That's where your online store comes in.

Building an online store no longer necessarily requires advanced coding skills. E-commerce platforms now provide ready-to-use tools that allow you to create a store, add products, and manage different aspects of your business.

When setting up your store, pay particular attention to:

• Your store name and brand identity
• A clear, user-friendly design
• High-quality product images
• Clear and helpful product descriptions
• Pricing and essential product information
• Payment options
• Shipping information
• Return and exchange policies
• Contact information
• Mobile shopping experience

With YouCan, you can create your online store, add products, manage orders, and oversee different aspects of your business from one place.

Remember, the goal isn't simply to create an attractive store. It's to help visitors understand your products and make purchasing decisions with ease.

6. Optimize Your Product Pages and Checkout Experience

You might have a great product and a beautiful store, but neither will be enough if your product pages or checkout process are confusing or complicated.

What Should Your Product Page Include?

Your product page should answer the most important questions customers may have before making a purchase:

• What is this product?
• What problem does it solve?
• What are its main benefits, and who is it for?
• How much does it cost?
• How is it used?
• When will it arrive?
• Are there reviews or testimonials from other customers?
• What payment options are available?

Use clear images, easy-to-read descriptions, concise headings, and highlight the information customers need to make a decision.

Keep Checkout Simple

Your checkout page isn't just the final step in an online purchase. It's a critical part of the shopping experience, where customers should be able to complete their orders smoothly and confidently.

Every unnecessary step or irrelevant piece of information can make the purchasing process more complicated.

Review the following elements:

• The number of required fields
• The clarity of the final price
• Shipping information
• Available payment methods
• Order confirmation messages
• Ease of completing the purchase on mobile devices

The goal is to create a clear, frictionless purchasing journey that takes customers from the product page to order completion in as few steps as possible.

7. Choose the Right Payment Methods for Your Audience

Choosing a payment method isn't just about what's available to your business. It's also about what customers prefer in the market you're targeting.

Depending on your country and business model, your options may include:

• Cash on delivery (COD)
• Bank cards
• Bank transfers
• Digital wallets and online payment solutions
• Payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, and other services available in your market

Before choosing your payment methods, ask yourself:

Do my customers use these methods? Do they trust them? And do they work well with my business model?

If you're selling in a market where cash on delivery is widely used, you may want to prioritize this option while improving your order confirmation process to reduce unsuccessful deliveries.

Whatever methods you choose, make sure the payment process is clear and secure, and that customers have all the information they need to complete their purchases confidently.

8. Choose a Suitable Domain Name and Test Your Store Before Launch

Choose a Clear Domain Name

Your domain name is part of your online business identity. Choose a name that is:

• Easy to remember
• Easy to spell
• Relevant to your brand
• As clear as possible
• Suitable for future growth

Don't assume that purchasing a domain name will automatically improve your search engine rankings. SEO performance depends on a wide range of content, technical, and user experience factors.

Test Your Store Before Launching

Before directing visitors or advertising campaigns to your store, test the entire purchasing journey from beginning to end.

Use this checklist:

• Place a test order.
• Test the available payment methods.
• Verify shipping cost calculations.
• Test the checkout process on mobile devices.
• Make sure inventory updates correctly.
• Check email messages and notifications.
• Test all links and buttons.
• Confirm that product information displays correctly.
• Test cancellation or return processes, where available.
• Ensure customers receive a clear confirmation after placing an order.

Don't launch your advertising campaigns until you've confirmed that your store can receive and process orders correctly.

9. Market Your Store and Attract Customers

Building your store is the beginning of your journey, not the end.

Once your store is live, you need to reach the right people and turn visits into orders.

There's no single marketing channel that works for every business. The right approach depends on your product, audience, market, and budget.

Paid Advertising

You can use platforms such as:

• Meta Ads
• TikTok Ads

You can also explore other advertising platforms used by your target audience.

Start by testing different ads and offers, then monitor your results to identify what performs best.

Content Marketing

Content can help you attract potential customers and build trust through formats such as:

• Short-form videos
• Educational content
• Product reviews
• Content explaining a problem and its solution
• Blog articles
• Social media posts

Search engines can also become a consistent source of traffic when you create content and pages that address what your audience is searching for.

Pay particular attention to:

• Product pages
• Keywords customers use
• Educational content
• Frequently asked questions
• Website speed and user experience
• Internal linking
• Helpful, specialized content

Retargeting

Not every visitor makes a purchase on their first visit.

Retargeting allows you to reconnect with people who have visited your store or viewed your products but haven't completed a purchase, depending on the tools and channels available to you.

10. Choose the Right Shipping Solution and Focus on Customer Experience

Once a customer places an order, an important stage of their shopping experience begins.

Shipping isn't simply about moving a product from one place to another. It's an essential part of the overall customer experience.

When choosing a shipping company or solution, compare:

• Shipping costs
• Delivery speed
• Geographic coverage
• Service quality
• Order tracking capabilities
• How undelivered orders are handled
• Customer support
• Return and refund policies

If your business operates in Morocco, you can use YouCan Ship to manage shipping and access a range of delivery providers, allowing you to choose the solution that best fits your store's needs.

Don't Overlook the Post-Shipping Experience

The customer experience doesn't end once an order has been shipped. You should also focus on:

• Communicating clearly with customers
• Confirming order details
• Tracking shipping progress
• Resolving issues quickly
• Collecting customer reviews
• Encouraging satisfied customers to purchase again

What Should You Do After Launching Your Online Business?

Launching your store and receiving your first orders isn't the end of the journey. It's the beginning of a new phase.

After launch, start monitoring your store's data to understand what's actually happening. Track key performance indicators such as:

• Number of visits
• Traffic sources
• Number of orders
• Conversion rate
• Best-selling products
• Products receiving visits without generating sales
• Customer acquisition cost
• Undelivered or returned order rate
• Advertising campaign performance
• Average order value

For example, if a product receives plenty of visits but generates few orders, the problem might lie in the price, product page, offer, or checkout process, rather than the advertisement itself.

That's why you shouldn't treat launching your store as a one-time event. Instead, approach it as an ongoing process of:

Testing → Measuring → Analyzing → Optimizing

Online Business Launch Checklist

Before you start receiving customers, make sure you've completed the following steps:

• I have a clear business idea.
• I have identified my target audience.
• I have researched the market and competitors.
• I have selected the right product.
• I have found a reliable supplier.
• I have created my online store.
• I have added products, images, and prices.
• I have prepared my product pages.
• I have chosen suitable payment methods.
• I have arranged shipping options.
• I have tested the checkout process.
• I have tested the order placement process.
• I have prepared a marketing plan.
• I have identified the performance metrics I'll track.
• I am ready to analyze results and optimize my store.

You can also manage much of your store's activity on the go using the YouCan mobile app.

Over time, launching an online business can evolve from a series of separate tasks into a clear, repeatable process that you can continuously improve and scale.