Online Business Setup
A website, an online store, and the social pages your customers actually use, set up for you, with your products listed and ready to sell.
Overview
Most customers look you up on a phone before they buy anything, and plenty of them now buy without ever visiting a shop. Your business has to be easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to buy from, on a small screen, in a few seconds.
An online business may have a shop customers can walk into, or it may exist only online and run from your kitchen table. Both are real businesses and we set up both. What changes is which pieces you actually need, and we will tell you plainly which ones you do not.
We build the website and the online store, list your products, set up your social media pages and your business email, and help you market what you sell. We explain every step in Bangla, Sylheti or English, and when it is finished it belongs to you.
Do you need a registered business first?
Not always, and we would rather say so than sell you something you do not need. Plenty of people start selling online under their own name and register a company later, once the business is earning.
You are more likely to need a registered business, an EIN, or both when a bank will not open a business account without one, when a payment processor or an online marketplace asks for company details, or when you take on a partner. We are not attorneys or CPAs and we will not tell you which is right for your situation, but we will explain in plain words what each one involves, and if you decide to register, we do that for you as well.
What we set up for you
You do not need to know anything about computers. Tell us what you sell and who buys it, and we do the rest.
Your website
A clean, fast site that works on a phone as well as a computer: who you are, what you sell, your prices if you publish them, and an obvious way to call, message or book. We can write it in English and Bangla, so every customer can read it in the language they are comfortable in.
Your online store
If you sell products, we build the store as well as the site. We list your products with photographs, descriptions and prices, group them so they are easy to browse, and set up online payment, delivery and collection, so somebody can buy from you at midnight without you answering the phone. Where it makes sense for what you sell, we can also list your products on the marketplaces your customers already use.
Your social media pages
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Business, set up properly and under the same name, picture and description as your website, so a customer can tell it is really you. We connect them to your site and your store, so a post can lead to a sale instead of only a like.
Your Google Business Profile, if customers come to you
A Google Business Profile puts you on Google Maps and in local searches. It is genuinely useful when people visit a shop, an office or a service address. If your business is online only, it may not apply to you at all, and we will say so rather than set up something that does nothing for you.
Your web address and business email
Your own web address, for example yourshop.com, and a business email at that address, such as info@yourshop.com. Both are registered in your business name, not ours, and we hand you every login when the work is done.
Getting customers, and turning them into sales
A website nobody visits does not earn anything, so we do not stop at building it.
Marketing is also where a small business is most easily talked into spending money badly, so a good part of this is simply us sitting on your side of the table. You do not have to arrive understanding any of it. Ask us what a word means, what a platform is really charging you, or whether an offer somebody has made you is worth taking, and you will get a straight answer in Bangla, Sylheti or English.
What we cannot do is promise you sales, or a particular position in Google’s results. Nobody can honestly promise either, and anyone who does is guessing. What we can do is make sure the work is done properly and tell you honestly what the numbers are saying.
- Set your pages up so search engines can find them and understand what you sell
- Plan what to post, how often, and what to say, so your pages do not go quiet
- Run paid promotions on Google, Facebook or Instagram when your budget justifies it
- Photograph and describe your products so people can see what they are buying
- Work through how you price, present and package what you sell
- Set up how you answer an enquiry, follow it up, and ask a happy customer for a review
- Show you which few numbers to watch, so you can tell what is working and what is not
- Explain each choice in plain words, so you decide where your money goes and know why
- Go through any advertising package somebody else has offered you, so you can see what you would be getting for the money before you agree to it
Looking after your customers
Once you are online, people message you at all hours, ask the same few questions over and over, and now and then complain. How you answer is what turns a first order into a regular customer, and it is the part nobody ever sits a small business down and explains.
We set that up with you, and if you want us to, we stay and help you run it. What we do not do is speak as though we were you. The words stay yours, and anything about your prices, your stock or what you promise a customer stays your decision.
- Bring your enquiries into one place, so a message on WhatsApp, Facebook or your website does not sit unread for three days
- Write short, polite answers to the questions you are asked most, ready to send in Bangla or English
- Set out plainly what you tell customers about delivery, returns, refunds and cancellations, before they have to ask
- Agree how quickly you aim to reply, and what happens to messages that arrive at night or while you are closed
- Answer a complaint or a poor review calmly, in a way that leaves you looking reasonable to everybody else reading it
- Show whoever helps you how to reply, so a customer gets the same answer whoever is holding the phone
- Sit with you through the real messages in the first few weeks, if you would rather not face them alone
How it works, step by step
- We sit down together at your free first consultation and you tell us what you sell and who buys it
- We agree what you actually need now, and what can wait until the business grows
- We show you a layout and a list of pages, and you tell us what to change
- We register your web address and set up your business email
- We build the site, build the store, and list your products
- We set up your social media pages, and your Google profile if customers visit you
- We put it live, show you how to use it in Bangla, and hand over every login
Working with our partners
Our job is to get you the right result, not to pretend that everything is done by one person in one office. Some of this work we do ourselves. For some of it we bring in someone we trust and have worked with before, such as a photographer, a designer, or a developer for a larger store.
Either way you deal with us. We agree the price with you before anything begins, we do not pass your information to anybody who does not need it for the job, and getting the work finished stays our responsibility.
Documents you may need
What to bring
- Your business name, and your logo if you already have one
- A list of what you sell or the services you offer, with prices if you publish them
- Photographs of your products, your work, your shop or your team
- Your business phone number and opening hours, and your address if customers visit you
- Two or three ideas for a web address, for example yourshop.com
- Your bank or payment details, if you want to take payment online
- Logins for any website or social media page you already have
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to register a business before I can sell online?
Not always. Many people start under their own name and register later. A bank, a payment processor or an online marketplace may ask you for company details, and that is usually what decides it. We will explain what registering involves, and we can do it for you, but the decision is yours and we are not attorneys or CPAs.
What if my business has no shop and no address?
That is completely normal, and it changes very little. You still need a website, a store if you sell products, social media pages and a business email. What you probably do not need is a Google Maps listing, because that is built around a place customers can visit. We will not set one up just to make the list look longer.
Can you build a store that takes payment online?
Yes. We set up the store, list your products with photographs and prices, and connect online payment, delivery and collection, so a customer can order and pay without speaking to you. Payment is handled by a payment company under their own terms, and we set it up in your business name.
Can you help me sell on Facebook or an online marketplace?
Yes, where it suits what you sell. We can set up your shop on the platforms your customers already use and keep your products, prices and photographs the same across all of them, so nothing contradicts anything else.
Can you help me answer my customers as well?
Yes. We can bring every message into one place, write ready-made answers for the questions you are asked most, and set out what you tell customers about delivery, returns and refunds. If you would like, we will go through the real messages with you for the first few weeks. We will not answer as though we were you, or promise a customer anything on your behalf.
I do not understand marketing at all. Is that a problem?
No, and most people who come to us do not either. Our job is to explain the choices in plain words and tell you what each one is likely to cost and what it is likely to do, so the decision is yours and you know why you are making it. If something is not worth your money yet, we will tell you that instead of selling it to you.
Do I need to know how to use a computer?
No. We set everything up and show you the few simple things you may want to change yourself, such as adding a product or a photograph. If you would rather not touch it at all, we can look after it for you.
How long does it take?
A simple website and social media pages are usually finished in one to two weeks. A store with a lot of products takes longer, mostly because of the photographs and the product list. We give you a time at the start, and we tell you if anything changes.
Can the website be in both English and Bangla?
Yes. We write in both, so your customers can read your pages in whichever language they are comfortable with.
Who owns the website and the pages when it is done?
You do. The web address, the site, the store and the social media pages are all registered in your business name, and we hand over every login. If you ever want to move to someone else, you can, and nothing is held back.
Can you promise my business will come first on Google?
No, and neither can anyone else. Google decides what appears and in what order, and it changes constantly. We do the work that gives you a fair chance and we show you what is actually happening, rather than promising a result nobody controls.
How much does it cost?
It depends on what you need, so this is one of the few services where we do not publish a single price. A one-page site is not the same job as a store with two hundred products. We work it out with you at your free first consultation and tell you the amount before any work begins.
Related services
We assist with paperwork and preparation. We are not attorneys or CPAs and do not provide legal or accounting advice.