The first six months of a small online shop — month by month

An important note before we start: this is not one specific shop. It's a composite — assembled from the dozens of small shops we've watched launch, plus the questions that land in our help center. The numbers are typical, not somebody's accounts.

We do it this way on purpose. Stories with real names and round numbers are usually advertising. This one is a map.

Month 0: the preparation that lasts far too long

The classic opening. There's a product — say handmade things that already sell to friends. There's an Instagram with 800 followers. There's an idea for a name.

Between three weeks and eight months disappear here. The reason is almost always one of three:

• "I'm waiting until I have more products."
• "The logo isn't finished."
• "I'll launch once it's properly done."

The shops that actually launch are usually the ones somebody pushed to publish unfinished. Typical product count at launch: between 4 and 8. Not 40.

Month 1: the silence

The site is live. Revenue is somewhere between nothing and a few orders, mostly from people who already know you.

This is the most dangerous moment of the whole journey, because it looks like an answer to "was this worth it?". It isn't. Month one is quiet for nearly everyone.

What actually happens in this month:

• The first real order from a stranger (usually week three or four)
• The first broken step — wrong shipping price, an image that doesn't load, a form that doesn't send
• The first realisation that a shop is not a traffic channel

The useful action here is boring: send 20 personal messages and fix the three things that don't work.

Month 2: the first numbers that mean something

Ten to twenty-five orders in total. The first repeat purchase appears. So do the first two reviews.

This is where conversion becomes visible — and it's usually bad. Between 0.4% and 0.9% is normal for month two. The causes are predictable and repeat everywhere:

• Shipping cost only appears at the last step
• No answer to "when will it arrive?"
• One photo per product
• Not a single review on the product page

Shops that fix exactly those four things usually lift conversion to around 1.5% within a month. Without spending anything on ads.

Month 3: the channel that clicks

There is almost always one channel that clicks. Which one varies, but the pattern is identical: something that was being done timidly suddenly starts producing.

The most common versions:

• A process video that travels
• A community where someone has been genuinely helpful for three months
• A Google Business profile, for anyone with a physical location
• One partner with a similar audience

The important observation: it's almost never five channels at once. One works, and the other four were distraction.

Month 4: the first operational jam

Orders reach 15–20 a week and a new problem appears: the human can't keep up.

The symptoms are always the same — packing until midnight, mixed-up addresses, materials running out, a forgotten order. It's a good problem, but it's a problem.

What helps, in order of effect:

1. One shipping day a week instead of a little every day
2. Packaging prepared in batches in advance
3. An automatic confirmation email instead of typing each one
4. Discontinuing the most complicated product, even though it sells

Point 4 is the hardest and the most profitable.

Month 5: the prices go up

Here comes the conversation every small maker postpones: the prices are too low.

The maths people do too late looks like this: a €15 product, €6 of materials, €0.60 packaging, €1.50 of absorbed shipping, 6% refused parcels, a little waste. Real profit lands around €4.50 — for ninety minutes of work per unit.

Raising the price by 15–20% almost never costs as many orders as you fear. Typically about 90% of orders survive a 20% increase — meaning profit jumps.

Month 6: the shop is now a business

Between 60 and 150 orders across half a year. There are repeat customers. There's an email list of a few hundred. There are three products producing 70% of revenue, and four that just take up space.

And most importantly: there's a system. You know which channel works, which day you ship, which photo stops the scroll.

From here, growth is repetition rather than discovery.

What repeats for everyone

• Month one is quiet. Always.
• The product you think will sell is rarely the one that sells.
• Conversion is fixed on the site, not with more traffic.
• One channel carries. The rest distract.
• Every delay before launch costs more than any mistake after it.

What differs

• Speed. Some shops do 150 orders in a month; some take a year.
• The channel. There is no universal one.
• Whether there's a physical presence — that changes everything in favour of local search.

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If you're in month 1 and it's quiet: that's the shape of the curve, not a verdict. If you've been in month 0 for eight months: ship it today, at 80%.