I Started a Shopify Store With No Experience: The Story of Lyara

At first I knew nothing. Didn't know how to build a product page. Didn't know how to set up an ad campaign. Didn't even know how important picking a specific audience was.

I started with an e-commerce marketing course on YouTube and built everything myself. The name Lyara came from my surname: I took the end of "QuagLiara" and added a y. I wanted a name that sounded like a brand. Too bad I had no idea what that brand was supposed to stand for.

The idea: sell generic jewellery. Stuff you can find on Alibaba. And basically identical to what anyone could find on AliExpress for half the price.

My audience? "Everyone." Which isn't a strategy. It's the opposite of a strategy.

I looked for products on Alibaba. Negotiated prices and shipping. First order: around €1,300, between goods and custom boxes. I also threw in some Daniel Wellington-style watches, because apparently I didn't have enough problems already.

I wanted the parcel not to look anonymous. So: custom boxes. My attempt to create a polished experience around a catalogue that was anything but exclusive.

Then customs showed up. They wanted a VAT number to proceed. So I opened one. In a rush.

That was the first moment I understood e-commerce isn't "pick a product, publish a site, turn on ads." Behind it there are suppliers, documents, imports, responsibilities, operational processes. Stuff no guru video shows you.

I built the Shopify site myself, step by step. And that's where I started understanding things I now consider basic: storytelling, copywriting, page hierarchy, trust, the path from first click to purchase.

Too bad storytelling can't be invented with a catchy line. With generic jewellery, no niche, no community, no differentiating product, there was no story to tell. I could improve pages, images and copy. But the real problem was upstream: I was selling stuff people could find identical elsewhere, cheaper.

I kept the goods in my basement. For shipping I used Packlink connected to Shopify: it picked the carrier and arranged home pickup. For a one-man store it was handy. But it didn't answer the real question: why would anyone buy specifically from Lyara?

No returns or heavy support. I don't read that as "perfect system." The reason is simpler: I wasn't selling. So there was nothing to return.

The hardest part: finding customers.

At first I couldn't set up Facebook Ads. I burned through several ad accounts before figuring anything out. I spent over €1,600 on campaigns. For a project starting from zero, that's a lot.

I made creatives, posts and videos with Adobe Creative Cloud: Photoshop, XD, Premiere. With the student plan I paid about €17 a month. I enjoyed that part. I wasn't just selling. I was learning to build visual communication, write messages, understand what turns a visit into a conversion.

Then I tried Italian influencers. Sent free products. Zero attributable sales. I also spent €400 on a sponsored post on Pastorizianeversdie. It converted nothing. Nothing.

Total sales: around €800 worth of goods.

And in front of those €800 there were goods, packaging, ads, subscriptions and time. The project wasn't a business. It was an expensive hobby dressed up as a startup.

Lyara stayed active for about a year and a half. The bottom line? Negative.

But calling it just a failure would be reductive. It taught me on the ground how much an activity needs foundations before launching.

The real lesson: without a business plan, an activity is a hobby with potentially huge losses. You don't need an elegant document to show someone. You need to put the uncomfortable questions in writing before opening your wallet.

Questions I should have asked first

• Who exactly is the customer? Which problem, desire or identity am I addressing?
• Why would they buy from me instead of a cheaper marketplace?
• What's the real margin after product, shipping, packaging, fees, ads and returns?
• How much can I spend acquiring a customer without losing money?
• What can I prove with a small test before placing a big order?
• Which result would make the project sustainable? And which would tell me to stop?

A business plan doesn't remove risk. It turns vague hopes into measurable assumptions. Which is the only way not to get screwed twice.

Lyara didn't become the e-commerce business I imagined. But it gave me skills I reused: building a website, managing an operational flow, understanding the basics of copywriting and conversion, producing creatives, facing campaigns that didn't work.

Years later those skills led me to open a web agency with a partner, with two separate sole proprietorships, before the Spotex experience.

If you're just starting, don't take this as "don't do it." Take it as "do it, but don't be an idiot about it." Start small. Validate before buying stock. Pick a specific customer. Measure every euro.

Lyara cost me more than it gave me. But it removed an illusion: an e-commerce store isn't a button for making money. It's a real business, with real costs and real customers. Which is exactly why it needs method. Not guru videos on YouTube telling you to just "believe in yourself."