Setting Up WhatsApp for a New Business: The First 30 Days

Most businesses set up WhatsApp badly, then spend two years working around the decisions they made in week one. The most expensive of those is using a personal number.

This is the order to do it in, assuming you are starting now.

Day 0: the number decision

The one choice that is hard to undo.

Buy a new SIM in the business’s name if you do not already have one. Register it to the business, not to an individual, and keep the SIM and its access with the owner.

Decide now whether that number will later move to the WhatsApp Business Platform, because once it does, it cannot be used in the ordinary app on a phone. See our API setup guide.

App or Platform? Start with the free WhatsApp Business app if you are a single person. Move to the Platform when a second person needs to reply, or when you want automation and reporting. The number can migrate.

Week 1: profile and the basics

Profile

• Business name, exactly as customers know it

• Logo as the profile photo

• Category

• Description: what you do, in one line

• Address and map location, if you have premises

• Hours, accurate

• Email

• Website link

Greeting message

Hi! Welcome to [Business] 👋 1 — Prices 2 — Location & timing 3 — Place an order 4 — Talk to our team

Away message

Thanks for messaging! We’re closed now and will reply by [time]. Meanwhile: reply 1 for prices, 2 for location.

Quick replies for your five most repeated answers: address, hours, price list, delivery info, payment details.

Labels for basic organisation: new enquiry, order confirmed, payment pending, delivered.

Half a day’s work, and it covers the majority of what a new business needs.

Week 2: catalogue and content

• Build the catalogue: photos, specific names, current prices, collections. See our catalogue setup guide

• Start with your 20 best-selling items, not all 300

• Set the catalogue link in your greeting message

• Prepare your standard reply templates in English and Tamil or Tanglish, as your customers need. See our multilingual guide

Do not wait for perfect photographs. Decent photographs of 20 items beat nothing while you plan a photoshoot.

Week 3: entry points

A WhatsApp number nobody can find is useless. Put it everywhere:

Use a wa.me link with a pre-filled message, so you know where the contact came from:

• From Instagram: “Hi, I saw your Instagram”

• From the website pricing page: “Hi, I’d like a quote”

Free attribution, no tracking setup required.

Week 4: automation and team

Keyword rules for your top eight questions, taken from the messages you actually received in weeks 1–3, not from guesswork. See our auto reply guide.

Opt-in capture. Start collecting consent now, properly, so you can message customers later: a question during conversation, a checkbox at checkout, a line on your QR poster. Record it. See our data and consent guide.

Team setup, if more than one person will reply:

• Move to the Business Platform

• Add team members with roles

• Agree who covers which hours

• Agree a response-time target

• Agree assignment rules

Customer records. From day one, tag every contact: source, interest, status. In six months this is your most valuable asset. See our customer database guide.

What to do in month two

Once the basics run:

• Order status updates. See our guide

• Payment links for anything above a threshold. See our payments guide

• Feedback request after purchase. See our surveys guide

• A broadcast channel for announcements. See our channels guide

• Message templates submitted for approval, if you are on the Platform

Mistakes to avoid in the first month

The contact list one is worth repeating: importing purchased numbers and messaging them is the fastest way to get a new number restricted.

Measure from day one

Even at low volume, record:

A simple count in a spreadsheet is enough in month one. The habit matters more than the tool.

A realistic 30-day checklist

• ☐ Dedicated business number, registered to the business

• ☐ Profile complete: name, logo, description, hours, address, website

• ☐ Greeting and away messages live

• ☐ Five quick replies saved

• ☐ Catalogue with 20 items and current prices

• ☐ WhatsApp link in Instagram bio and on the website

• ☐ QR code printed for the counter

• ☐ Eight keyword rules built from real messages

• ☐ Opt-in being captured and recorded

• ☐ Team roles and response-time target agreed

• ☐ Contacts being tagged with source and status

• ☐ Basic metrics being recorded weekly

Frequently asked questions

Should we start with the free app or the Platform? Free app for one person. Move to the Platform when a second person needs access, or when you want automation and reporting.

Can we change the number later? Possible but disruptive; customers have saved it. Decide properly now.

How long before it brings business? Enquiries usually start as soon as the entry points are live. The compounding value comes from the contact list you build over months.