Guide on starting an online business in 2025

Thinking about how to start an online business in Australia, but not sure what to do or where to begin?

Whether you’re setting up a side hustle alongside your main job, or flexing your entrepreneurial skills with a dream enterprise, this guide will detail the steps you need to take to launch an online business in 2025.

We’ll also introduce Wise Business — an international money transfer tool to help your online business scale and grow globally.

Table of contents
How to start an online business in Australia Different types of online businesses you can start Wise Business - To manage global transactions

How to start an online business in Australia

Planning and preparation are key to success when starting a business. Here’s a guide on how to get things up and running.

1. Conduct market research

Where to start? A big idea is a useful jumping off point. New business ideas don’t always need to be completely unique. Simply serving a niche really well can set you apart. But you’ll want to be profitable and sustainable. This involves some market research to see whether there’s enough demand to support your business.

• Identify target audience - Who are your ideal customers? Go deeper and define demographics, habits, preferences, and pain points.
• Analyse competition - Who will be your competitors and what products or services are they offering?
• Validate demand - Does anyone want it? Use tools like Google Trends and social media to see if people are actively searching for what you want to offer.
• Understanding pricing - How much are customers willing to pay for your product or service?

When you’ve finished brainstorming, you can start finalising the details for your online business and developing a business plan.

2. Complete business registration

You’ll need to take care of a few legal requirements to start an online business in Australia. Registering a business will require you to:

• Decide on a business structure - Becoming a sole trader is likely to best suit your needs for an online business, but you can use the business.gov.au help page for guidance¹.
• Get an Australian Business Number - This 11-digit number is used to identify your business on invoices and for tax purposes².
• Register your business name - You’ll need an ABN to register your business name³. This name will be the cornerstone of your branding, so think carefully before deciding.

That’s the essentials taken care of. You might also need to register for Goods and Services Tax (GST) at some point, but this is only required when your gross turnover exceeds $75,000⁴.

The Australian government’s Business Registration Service makes it easy to complete multiple registrations in one go.

3. Open a business banking account

For online businesses, opening a dedicated business bank account is essential. Without one, you risk complicating accounting, tax reporting, and cash flow management. It also limits your ability to handle international transactions efficiently, which is crucial for global expansion.

As most online businesses tend to deal with international transactions, a multi-currency account is invaluable, allowing seamless transfers in different currencies without the need for local bank accounts.

For instance, Wise Business is one such multi-currency account that provides local account details in 8+ currencies. This enables you to receive payments like a local, hold and exchange over 40+ currencies, and make cost-effective payments to 150+ countries at the real mid-market rate. With Wise Business, you can simplify your financial management and support your global growth.

Setup a Wise Business account for your online business today!

Sign up for the Wise Business account! 🚀

4. Build a website and set up social media accounts

Once you’ve sorted the legal and financial formalities, you can start thinking about building a website for your online business.

Good news — you don’t have to be a wizard designer or developer to create an intuitive website in 2025. There are platforms that provide ready-made templates that you can build on and customise with your branding. Make sure it’s optimised for mobile, for customers shopping on smartphones.

Another excellent tool for marketing and selling goods is social media. Most accounts you can create for free. You don’t need to sign up to every site, though. Take a look at Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube etc. to see where your audience might be, then tailor your online presence and promote your business.

ℹ️ Want to find out how much it costs to start an online business? Check out our guide on business costs in Australia.

Different types of online businesses you can start

Now let’s look at seven online business ideas to give you inspiration.

How to start an online clothing business in Australia

With selling clothes, you can start small by using platforms like eBay and SwapUp and build out your business from there. You’ll need to select a niche — maybe based on your own style or interests — and then source clothes from suppliers. A big part of success here is tracking and managing your inventory.

If you want to build your own online store, you can use ecommerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce to design a digital boutique and then register a domain name. It’s then a case of pricing your garments and using social media and SEO to market your business.

How to start an online fitness training business

Digital fitness and well-being is popular in Australia. Again, you’ll need a niche such as weight loss, strength and bodybuilding, yoga, pilates, or sports-specific. You can then start offering virtual training courses and workshops with live streams, video calls, and pre-recorded videos.

Things you should consider include:

• Create a landing page for customers to book sessions.
• Buy professional video equipment to create content.
• Use coaching platforms like Trainerize to deliver structured programs.
• Create a multi-currency banking account to accept payments from customers globally and convert them to AUD.
• Post regularly on social media to build an audience.

How to start an online coaching business

If you prefer mind over body, you can create an online coaching business to help people with their career, personal development, finances, relationships, or creativity. There’s lots you can explore here. You can start coaching simply by booking clients via direct messages and social media and Calendly links and go from there.

If it’s a success, you can then:

• Develop a coaching program and set pricing.
• Choose a course platform to host lessons and upload videos.
• Use marketing tools including email and ads to attract clients.

How to start an online business selling ebooks

Selling ebooks is an option if you’re a creative writer with original content or looking to source other digital books to sell. The first thing you’ll need is an online store. An ecommerce platform like Shopify will again come in handy here to create a theme, branding, and product descriptions for your store.

If you simply want to self-publish your own ebooks, you could use Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and slowly build from there. Just remember to set pricing that reflects their value and to promote them and build an audience using social media.

How to start an online dropshipping business

Starting a business without managing an inventory is easier. Dropshipping lets you do this by forwarding any products you sell to a supplier, who will do the rest. It’s best to focus on one product type initially — clothing, tech accessories, jewellery, home decor, beauty and skincare etc. Find your niche and scale accordingly.

• Source reliable suppliers using directories in Australia.
• Set up an online store and list your products.
• Launch your business and promote it using social media, influencers, and SEO.

How to start an e-commerce store

Setting up an ecommerce store will let you sell goods and services to customers in Australia and overseas. One difference to dropshipping is that you’ll have to store stock and develop your own shipping and fulfilment capabilities on top of setting up a professional-looking online platform.

• Focus on creating simple and secure gateways with relevant payment methods — debit cards and PayPal are popular in Australia⁵.
• Set up clear terms and conditions, privacy, and returns policies.
• Promote your store using digital marketing to grow.
• Use Wise Business to receive payments and save costs on cross-border transactions.

How to develop an app

Developing an app requires a slightly different approach. The onus won’t be on customer service initially. You’ll need to define an app concept and develop it, then rigorously test it before launch. Researching a target market and the competition is the best place to start to ensure your app serves a purpose and can be monetised.

• Most apps require funding to develop, so you should consider pitching your ideas to angel investors, venture capitalists, and crowdfunding groups.
• Select a monetisation model — one-time payment, subscription, freemium, or ads.
• Launch and promote the app with paid ads and content marketing

Short on funds? Take a look at our guide on how to start an online business with no money.

Grow your business globally with Wise Business

Before you create an online business, it’s vital to conduct proper research. Don’t jump in without a plan or funds. Take it slow and explore all your options. You can then begin developing your service and taking care of all the legal and financial requirements. The key is creating solid foundations for long term success.

Wise Business is one such stepping stone that can be leveraged to manage global transactions. With the Wise Business account, you’ll be able to get paid like a local with account details for 8+ currencies — perfect if you’re working with suppliers in New Zealand, or customers in the UK.

What's more, you'll benefit from the following with a Wise Business account:

• Free to register — Hold and convert between 40+ currencies. Send to 140+ countries
• Debit and expense cards for you and your team, which you can use in 150+ countries
• Multi-user access for team members, with ways to control and manage permissions
• Pay up to 1,000 people at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Integrate with your favourite cloud accounting solutions like Xero, Quickbooks, and more
• Get account details to receive in 8+ currencies for a one-time fee of 65 AUD

Sign up for the Wise Business account! 🚀

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Sources:

1. Business Gov Au - Sole trader
2. Business Gov Au - Register for an Australian business number
3. Business Gov Au - Register your business name
4. Business Gov Au - Register for GST
5. Paypal - Consumer trends defining Australia payments