Sure can. Since you`re new you are Terran and Terrans are best at commercial. so on your planets you want to build just enough housing so you can have enough labor to fill your planet with commercial. You need to research commercial so the commercial you build on your planets makes you more money per turn.
Make sure you have enough food to feed all your population. Also you can explore for more planets which will give you more land. only keep and develop the larger ones as this makes your empire more efficient. You should also mine all the ore from all the planets you find and sell this on the market to make more money.