Guides for your business
Practical guides to starting a business, selling online and running your own deliveries. Written by the team that builds Zepio.
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Starting a business
How to start an online clothing business from home: a step-by-step guide
Pick a narrow niche, buy small quantities from reliable suppliers, register for GST before you ship to other states, price every piece after shipping and returns, and sell from your own website with Instagram and WhatsApp bringing people in.
Saurabh Shah 12 min read
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Starting a business
How to start a meat and fish delivery business: licences, cold chain and pricing
Get FSSAI registration and your local meat shop licence, buy only from authorised slaughterhouses and keep the records, keep meat cold from shop to door, sell by clear weights and cuts with a cut-off time, and deliver fast inside a small area.
Saurabh Shah 11 min read
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Starting a business
How to start a hyperlocal delivery business in your town: vendors, delivery and the numbers
Pick one town and one category, sign 20 to 40 good local shops, run your own delivery team inside tight zones, register as an e-commerce operator for GST, pay vendors on a fixed cycle, and price each order so it covers delivery and leaves something over.
Saurabh Shah 10 min read
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Delivery
How to ship products across India as a small business: couriers, rates and packaging
Use a courier aggregator or your own courier accounts, learn how zones and billed weight set your rate, pack in the smallest safe box, enter real weights and sizes, plan for cash on delivery payouts and returns, and check what you are allowed to ship.
Saurabh Shah 9 min read
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Getting customers
How to recover abandoned carts: fix the checkout, then send the right reminder
Around 70% of online carts are abandoned. Fix the reasons you control first, such as surprise fees, forced accounts and slow delivery, then remind shoppers within an hour and again the next day, by the channel they agreed to.
Saurabh Shah 8 min read
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Delivery
How to hire and manage delivery staff for your business: pay, cash and daily routine
Hire through local referrals, check licence, vehicle papers and ID, pay per delivery or a base plus distance, add incentives for peak hours, cap cash in hand and settle it daily, and track deliveries per hour, on-time rate and cash differences.
Saurabh Shah 9 min read
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Getting customers
How to get your business on Google Maps: set up, verify and rank your Business Profile
Create or claim your free Google Business Profile, verify it, use your real business name, choose the right category, add hours, photos and your website, ask every happy customer for an honest review, and reply to every review.
Saurabh Shah 9 min read
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Getting customers
How to get repeat customers for your local business: 10 ways that work online
Measure how many customers come back, win the second order, make reordering one tap, reward loyalty with points, ask happy customers to refer friends, send reminders people opted in to, and fix every complaint fast.
Saurabh Shah 8 min read
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Selling online
How to create a website for your small business: options, what to pay for and what to put on it
Choose a builder that fits what you sell, buy a domain in your business name, publish the pages customers look for, make it fast on phones, take orders and payments on it, and connect it to Google so people can find you.
Saurabh Shah 10 min read
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Selling online
How to accept online payments for your small business: UPI, gateways and cash
Use a UPI QR code for counter and chat payments, a payment gateway for your website and app so orders are marked paid on their own, payment links for one-off orders, and cash on delivery with checks. Compare fees, settlement time and how each payment reaches the right order.
Saurabh Shah 9 min read
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Selling online
Swiggy and Zomato commission: what restaurants really pay per order
In a complaint the Competition Commission acted on in 2022, the restaurant association said commissions were 20% to 30%. GST at 18% is added to the commission, and many restaurants also fund discounts. Keep the apps for new customers, and move regulars to your own ordering.
Saurabh Shah 10 min read
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Starting a business
How to start a quick commerce dark store: location, layout and operations
A dark store is a small warehouse that serves only online orders. Choose a dense area, stock a few hundred to a couple of thousand products people need in a hurry, lay the store out for fast picking, and promise only the delivery time you can keep.
Saurabh Shah 12 min read
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Starting a business
How to start an online grocery delivery business in 2026
Start with the shop and customers you already have. Register with FSSAI, put your 200 to 500 best sellers online, deliver inside 2 to 3 km with your own team, and price every order so delivery pays for itself.
Saurabh Shah 14 min read
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Starting a business
How to start a cloud kitchen from home: a step-by-step guide
Pick a short menu you can cook well every day, register with FSSAI, price every dish for the commission you will pay, and give repeat customers a direct way to order from your first week.
Saurabh Shah 12 min read
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Starting a business
How to start a bakery business from home: licences, pricing and selling online
Start with a few bakes you make perfectly, register with FSSAI, price every cake for ingredients, packaging, delivery and your time, and take orders online with the date and cake message captured up front.
Saurabh Shah 11 min read
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Delivery
How to set delivery charges for your business: methods, maths and examples
Work out what one delivery really costs you, then charge by flat fee, distance, area or weight. Add a free delivery threshold of at least your delivery cost divided by your margin, so each free-delivery order covers its own delivery.
Saurabh Shah 10 min read
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Selling online
How to sell on WhatsApp Business: a practical guide with ready-to-use messages
Set up the free WhatsApp Business app with a full profile and catalogue, handle orders with quick replies and labels, take payment safely, and add an online store when the chats start taking over your day.
Saurabh Shah 9 min read
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Delivery
How to reduce fake cash on delivery orders and RTO: a 10-step plan
Most cash on delivery orders are genuine, but refused ones cost you twice. Verify the phone number, confirm before dispatch, take a part payment on risky orders, make paying online the better deal and stop COD for repeat offenders.
Saurabh Shah 9 min read
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Mobile apps
How to publish an app on the Google Play Store: the 2026 step-by-step guide
Create a Google Play developer account, fill in the policy forms and store listing, upload your app bundle and send it for review. New personal accounts must first run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days.
Saurabh Shah 10 min read
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Mobile apps
How to create a mobile app for your business: the two routes, costs and steps
You can hire a developer or use an app builder that turns your online store into an app. For most shops and restaurants an app builder is faster and cheaper, as long as the app is published under your own name.
Saurabh Shah 11 min read
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