Your first ten customers
Find your first buyers one by one: through people who already know you, direct messages to people with the problem, and referrals from happy customers. Learn to count your outreach so you know how much to do.
START WARM
Your warm network
Your warm network is everyone who already knows you: family, friends, classmates, old colleagues, neighbours, the people in your groups. Write down every name you can, even 50 or more. The goal is not to make them buy. It's to ask who they know that has the problem your offer solves.
Taraneh listed 60 names. Only a few had young children, but many knew busy parents. Her first four orders came from people she had never met, introduced by someone on her list.
Two ways to message people you know
Asking for support
'I started a business, please buy something to support me!' Some friends will, once, out of kindness. That tells you nothing about whether strangers want it, and it spends goodwill you may need later.
Asking for introductions
'I make birthday cakes for busy parents, delivered on the day. Do you know anyone planning a party soon?' Easy to answer, no pressure, and it reaches the people who actually have the problem.
Check yourself
Azadeh is starting a home-cooked lunch delivery for office workers. Which message to her old university group is most likely to lead to real customers?
- 'Please order from me this week, it would mean a lot to me!'
- 'Big launch this week! 50% off everything for the whole first month, please share this with everyone you know!'
- 'I now deliver home-cooked lunches to offices downtown. Know a team there that orders in?'
- A link to her new page with no message, so nobody feels pressured
Show the answer
'I now deliver home-cooked lunches to offices downtown. Know a team there that orders in?'
Yes. It says what she does and for whom, and asks an easy question that points to the people with the problem. Pity orders and big discounts bring buyers who won't come back.
GO TO THEM
Direct outreach
Direct outreach means contacting people who have the problem, one by one, where they already are: a neighbourhood group, a local market, the shops on your street, people who comment about the problem online. A good message is short, personal and ends with one easy question. A copy-pasted advert sent to 200 people usually gets ignored.
Kamran, who photographs products, walked his local shopping street and noticed which shops had dark, blurry photos online. He messaged each one with a note about their page and one question.
Anatomy of a message that gets replies
- Why them
One line that shows you looked: 'I saw your shop's page and the new winter coats.'
- The problem you noticed
Said kindly and specifically: 'The photos are quite dark, so the colours are hard to see.'
- Your offer in one line
'I take bright, clean product photos for small shops, ready in three days.'
- One easy question
'Would it help if I sent two sample shots of one coat, free?' A yes or no, not 'let me know what you think'.
- Follow up once
No reply after four or five days? Send one short, friendly reminder. People are busy, and many replies come after the second message. After that, let it go.
Check yourself
Daniel sent the same pasted advert to 20 strangers in one evening and got no replies. That is solid proof nobody wants what he sells.
Show the answer
False
False. Twenty messages is a small number, and a copy-pasted advert with no personal line and no question is the kind people ignore. Before judging the idea, he should send personal messages to people who clearly have the problem, follow up once, and count the results over more attempts.
Kamran's first month of outreach
Messages sent 60
Replies 18 (18 / 60 = 30%)
Sample shoots 6 (6 / 18 = 1 in 3 replies)
Paying customers 2 (2 / 6 = 1 in 3 samples)
Messages per customer = 60 / 2
Target next month: 6 customers
Messages needed = 6 x 3030 messages per customer, so about 180 messages for 6 customers
(about 9 a working day over 20 days)Your own rates will differ. The point is to count them, because then 'I need more customers' turns into a daily number you can actually do.
Check yourself
Bahar sells custom phone cases. Last month she sent 40 personal messages, got 10 replies, had 4 real conversations and made 2 sales. If her rates stay the same, how many messages does she need for 5 sales next month?
- 50, because 10 replies gave her 2 sales
- 100, because every sale took 20 messages
- 80, double last month's 40
- 25, because 5 sales need 5 x 5 conversations
Show the answer
100, because every sale took 20 messages
Yes. 40 messages ÷ 2 sales = 20 messages per sale, and 5 x 20 = 100. That's about 5 a day over 20 working days.
THE BEST CHANNEL
Referrals
A referral is a happy customer sending you someone new. It's often the strongest channel a small business has, because the new person arrives already trusting you. But most happy customers never think to do it unless you ask. The best moment is right after they tell you they're pleased.
When a shop owner thanked Kamran for the photos, he replied: 'So glad they worked! Do you know one or two other shop owners who might like the same? I can send them a short message you could forward.'
Making referrals easy
- Ask at the happy moment, not weeks later in a general post.
- Ask for something specific: 'one or two other café owners', not 'anyone'.
- Give them a ready-made message to forward, so it takes ten seconds.
- Thank them whether or not it leads to a sale. A small thank-you gift is fine; keep it honest and not a bribe.
Check yourself
Which way of finding customers is each one?
- Asking your cousin if she knows any new parents
- Messaging a café owner you've never met about her menu photos
- A happy customer forwards your number to her sister
- Posting in your old school friends' group about what you now do
- Visiting the shops on your street with a sample
- Asking a pleased client for two names right after delivery
Show the answer
Warm network: Asking your cousin if she knows any new parents, Posting in your old school friends' group about what you now do
Direct outreach: Messaging a café owner you've never met about her menu photos, Visiting the shops on your street with a sample
Referral: A happy customer forwards your number to her sister, Asking a pleased client for two names right after delivery
Check yourself
Match each situation to the best next step
Show the answer
- A friend says 'I'll buy one to support you' → Thank her, and ask who she knows that has the problem
- No reply five days after a personal message → Send one short, friendly follow-up
- A customer says the work was just what she needed → Ask for one or two names and give her a message to forward
- You don't know how many messages to send this week → Divide last month's messages by its sales
Lesson recap
- First customers usually come one at a time, through people, not through ads.
- With your warm network, ask for introductions, not for support purchases.
- Direct outreach works when the message is short, personal and ends with one easy question, plus one follow-up.
- Count messages, replies and sales, so you know how much outreach a customer takes.
- Ask happy customers for referrals at the moment they tell you they're pleased.