The first customer
How to get your first customer
Start with your network, offer something small and specific, ask for referrals and real testimonials. The first customer comes from a talk, not an ad.
bairogonzalez.com team, drawing on Bairo's story · Published
The first customer almost never comes from an expensive ad. They come from a conversation: with someone you know, a former colleague, a neighbor, someone from a group you belong to. The work at the start is moving from a generic "I'm starting a business" to a small, clear offer that is easy to say yes to.
The practical path
- Define who it's for, specifically. Not "anyone who needs it." Write down the profile: "owner of a small restaurant who wastes time on inventory," "working mother who needs a cake for Friday." The more specific, the easier to find.
- List 50 people you already know. Not to sell to them, but to ask: "do you know anyone with this problem?". Your network is the bridge to your first customer.
- Make an entry offer. A smaller service, a time-limited trial, a starter package. Something the person can accept without thinking too hard. Charge, even if little: a paying customer gives serious feedback.
- Go where the customer already is. Neighborhood groups, business associations, fairs, your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business, free, which shows up in local searches and on the map), Instagram and WhatsApp Business. Start with one channel and do it well.
- Serve them as if they were your only one. Your first customer is also your first salesperson. Deliver a little more than agreed, on time.
- Ask for referrals and genuine testimonials. At the end, ask: "would you recommend me to someone?" and "can I use what you said?". Never make up a testimonial: besides being unethical, Brazil's Consumer Protection Code prohibits misleading advertising.
- Write down what they said. Your first customer's words about the problem are the best sales copy you'll ever have.
A common mistake is giving the service away for free "to gain experience." Sometimes it makes sense, but it has a cost: people who don't pay rarely give serious feedback, and you don't find out whether anyone would pay. If you want to make the first purchase easier, prefer a launch price with a clear deadline or a simple satisfaction guarantee, such as redoing the job at no cost if what was agreed isn't delivered.
Another mistake is waiting for everything to be perfect: logo, website, business card. Your first customer isn't buying your visual identity. They're buying the solution to a problem of theirs, from someone they trust.
How Bairo went through it
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez says his first business in Brazil was a neighborhood one: a salon, opened with his partner when their daughter was born. It didn't work out as well as they would have liked, but it brought something no advertising would: daily contact with people who took care of their hair and scalp. From that contact came a hair-treatment course.
Long before any companies registered in London, he learned there that customers are won up close, one conversation at a time. Capoeira, his first bridge to Brazil, teaches something similar: the circle forms with whoever is around.
The Method step
Getting your first customer is the continuation of step 3 of the Seventh Attempt Method: prove it small, with the 14/20 rule. The 20 conversations in 14 days aren't only for validating the idea: among those 20 people there is often your first customer, or whoever will refer them. End each conversation with a small request.
Discover the Seventh Attempt Method