Online business kaise kare? Take your shop online in 5 steps

Short answer: Online business karne ka sabse aasan tarika hai apne existing business ko Google, WhatsApp aur ek simple website par lana. In plain words, put your shop on Google for free, set up WhatsApp Business, get a simple website (typically ₹10,000 to ₹40,000 one-time), open an Instagram or Facebook page, and start collecting reviews and posting weekly. The first two steps cost nothing and take one afternoon each. Ads come later, and only after the free steps are complete.

"Online business kaise kare" is searched by two kinds of people. The first wants to start a new business on the internet: dropshipping, reselling, an online course. This post is not for them. It is for the second kind: the owner of a real shop, clinic, salon, gym, coaching class or service who already has customers walking in and wants more of them to find the business online. The five steps below are in the order that works, with what each costs and how long it takes, followed by a 30-day plan and the mistakes that waste money.

Online business kaise kare? (How do you take a business online?)

Taking a business online does not mean building an app or selling on Amazon. For a local business it means being present, with correct details and a way to message you, in the four places customers already look: Google Maps and search, WhatsApp, a website, and Instagram or Facebook. Most owners try to do all four at once, spend on ads first, and give up. Do them one at a time, in this order.

Step 1: Put the business on Google for free

Cost: free. Time: one afternoon, plus a few days for verification.

When someone nearby searches "bakery near me" or "dentist in [area]", Google shows a map with three businesses. Being one of them starts with a Google Business Profile. Fill in these, in this order:

• Exact business name as on your signboard (no extra keywords)
• The right primary category, and two or three secondary ones
• Address, or the service area if you go to customers
• Phone number that is answered during working hours
• Opening hours, including lunch breaks and weekly off
• A description of two or three lines in plain words
• At least ten photos: the front, the inside, the team, the work
• Your services or menu with prices where you can

Then complete verification. Google usually asks for a short video walk-through, a phone call, or a postcard, and the profile goes live once it is done. The exact steps, and the five things that bring more calls, are in our guide to getting your shop on Google Maps, so we will not repeat them here.

Step 2: Set up WhatsApp Business

Cost: free. Time: one hour.

Most of your online customers will not fill a form or send an email. They will message. The free WhatsApp Business app turns the number you already use into a small shop counter:

1. Install WhatsApp Business and set up the business profile: name, category, address, timings, website (later).
2. Build a catalogue: photos, names and prices of your top ten products or services. Customers can browse it without asking "rate kya hai".
3. Write a greeting message for first-time customers and an away message for after hours.
4. Save quick replies for the five questions you answer every day: timings, location, price list, delivery, appointment.
5. Use labels (new, paid, follow-up) so nothing gets lost.
6. Create your click-to-chat link (wa.me/91yournumber) and put it on your Google profile, Instagram bio and website.

Reply within minutes during working hours. In our experience, a fast reply on WhatsApp wins more customers than any design on any website.

Step 3: A simple website

Cost: typically ₹10,000 to ₹40,000 one-time, plus ₹3,000 to ₹8,000 a year. Time: one to two weeks after you send details.

People check whether you are real before they visit or pay, and a website is where they check. Five pages are enough:

1. Home: what you do, where you are, who it is for, and a WhatsApp button in the first screen.
2. Services (or Menu, Treatments, Courses): one section or page per main service, with prices or "from ₹X".
3. About: who runs it, since when, and a real photo.
4. Gallery: ten to twenty real photos.
5. Contact: phone, WhatsApp, Google Maps, timings.

You can build it on a phone builder, on WordPress, or have it made. The three routes, the steps and the typical costs are in website kaise banaye. Whichever way you go, register the domain in your own name and test every button on a phone.

Step 4: Instagram or Facebook, depending on the business

Cost: free. Time: two hours to set up, one hour a week after that.

You do not need both. Pick by who your customers are and how they decide:

• Instagram if people decide by seeing: food, cakes, clothes, jewellery, salons, interiors, decor, fitness, events. Post photos and short videos.
• Facebook if your customers are older or in a smaller town, or if you sell to families and local groups: clinics, tuition, real estate, repairs, agriculture supplies. Local Facebook groups still bring enquiries.
• Both only if you have someone with the time. A dead page hurts more than no page.

Set up the page as a business account, add the WhatsApp link, your address and timings, and pin one post that explains what you do.

Step 5: Collect reviews and post weekly

Cost: free. Time: fifteen minutes a day.

This is the step most owners skip, and it is the one that keeps the first four working. Two habits:

• Ask every happy customer for a Google review. Send the review link on WhatsApp after the service, or print a QR code at the counter. Reply to every review, including the bad ones, politely.
• Post once a week on the Google profile and on your Instagram or Facebook: a new photo, an offer, a customer question answered, a before-and-after. Fresh posts tell Google and customers the business is alive.

When to spend on ads

Only after steps 1 to 5 are done. An ad sends people to your profile, website or WhatsApp, and if those are incomplete, you pay for clicks that go nowhere. When the basics are ready, start small: usually ₹5,000 to ₹15,000 a month of ad budget at the time of writing, on Google if people search for what you sell and on Instagram or Facebook if they discover it by seeing it. Our guide to digital marketing explains the choice between the two and what each costs.

The five steps: free vs paid

How to measure whether it is working

Do not measure likes or followers. Measure the four things that become money, once a month:

• Calls from the Google profile (shown in the profile's performance section)
• WhatsApp messages from new customers (count them, or use labels)
• Direction requests on Google Maps
• Orders, bookings or walk-ins where the customer says "I saw you online"

Write the four numbers in a notebook or a sheet on the first of every month. If a number is not moving after three months, change what feeds it: more photos and reviews for calls and directions, a better catalogue and faster replies for WhatsApp.

A 30-day plan

Mistakes that waste money

• Running ads before the profile is complete. The clicks land on an empty profile with no photos, and the money is gone.
• Buying followers. They never buy anything, and platforms quietly reduce your reach for it.
• Fake reviews. Google removes them, sometimes with the profile. One honest review a week beats fifty fake ones.
• Ignoring messages. A WhatsApp reply after six hours is a lost customer.
• Registering the domain or profile in someone else's name. You cannot leave, and you cannot recover it if they disappear.
• Doing all five steps badly instead of two steps well. A complete Google profile and fast WhatsApp replies beat five half-done pages.

What we charge

If you would rather have the setup done for you, our Growth Bundle is ₹34,999 one-time: a website of up to six pages, Google Business Profile setup, WhatsApp Basics, one ad campaign set up, basic SEO and AI search setup, and one month of WhatsApp support. It covers all five steps above in one go.

The steps are also available separately: Profile Setup ₹3,999 one-time and Profile Care ₹2,999 per month on the Google Business Profile page; WhatsApp Basics ₹4,999 one-time; website packages from Starter ₹9,999 to Business ₹24,999 and Growth ₹49,999; Ads Setup ₹7,999 one-time with the ad budget paid by you to Google or Meta. Prices exclude GST, there is no lock-in on monthly plans, and every account stays in your name. Everything is side by side on the pricing page.

The short version

To take an existing shop, clinic or service online, do five things in order: a free Google Business Profile, free WhatsApp Business with a catalogue, a simple five-page website (typically ₹10,000 to ₹40,000 one-time), an Instagram or Facebook page depending on your customers, and a weekly habit of reviews and posts. Spend on ads only when those are done, and measure calls, WhatsApp messages, directions and orders every month rather than likes. Most owners can finish the free steps in a week and the whole plan in thirty days.