New Service Businesses Can't Land Their First Client
New service-based businesses are facing a significant hurdle: acquiring their first clients. They're struggling with visibility, convincing potential clients to engage, and often encounter resistance regarding pricing and commitment, especially in the current economic climate. This initial client acquisition phase is proving to be the most challenging aspect of launching these ventures.
SOURCES (60)
“My fiancé and I recently started a custom shower glass installation business, and we're trying to get our name out around the Lake Cumberland area. We install custom glass showers for homes, lake houses, RVs, and houseboats. Right now we're mostly focusing on social media,…”
“Oh, and to add to the social media/marketing point: See if you can get an interview with your local paper or news outlet.”
“Hi guys. Do y’all have any tips on things you can do to compete with a bigger practice moving into your area? My practice is 30 min outside of the city. I’ve struggled a lot with growing it. I may have to close it but want to make sure I’ve done everything I can before I go that route, so that way I don’t have any regrets that I didn’t give it my all. I’m pretty embarrassed of my numbers so that’s why I’m not sharing them on here. Some well known dentists have moved into the area over the years,”
“I'm building something around customer discovery and community outreach, and while talking to founders I've noticed the same advice keeps coming up: "Find your customers on Reddit, Discord, Slack communities, Facebook groups, X, etc." The idea makes sense because people openly discuss their problems there. But the execution feels painful. Manually searching dozens of communities, keeping track of discussions, figuring out where your target audience hangs out, and trying to join”
“Hi everyone, I’ve built a small SaaS tool for inventory and stock management in HoReCa (cafes, restaurants). The hardest part right now is finding the first clients. I don’t have an existing network. How did you find your first customers for a small business SaaS or service? What actually worked? submitted by /u/More-Stomach-971 [link] [comments]”
“Hey everyone, I've been wanting to start my own jewelry business for a while now and I've finally decided to take the leap. I have the passion and some ideas, but I know building something like this alone can be tough — so I'm open to bringing on a co-partner who's genuinely interested in building this together. A bit about what I'm looking for in a partner: Someone equally passionate about jewelry, design, or fashion Willing to invest time (and ideally some capital) into the”
“I’m a college student and I’ve been wanting to start a small side business—not necessarily to make a lot of money, but to earn a little while doing something I genuinely enjoy. Lately I’ve been making pipe cleaner bouquets, and I’ve also been thinking about starting a mail club where people can exchange handwritten letters, postcards, little trinkets, bookmarks, etc. I love creative and personalized things, so both ideas appeal to me. I’d really appreciate any advice, ideas, or even mistakes to”
“When my partner and I started the business, we didn't have any marketing set up. We didn't even have a landing page. Our first client actually came from a totally random connection. The sister of my partner’s boss casually mentioned to him that we were starting a UI/UX and Webflow dev business, and he ended up reaching out to have us redesign their company site. We took the project and just focused completely on delivering a solid result. It worked out perfectly. Because of that one site”
Thx see it now. Nice job getting the customers. Are your clients local and you talking to them in person or finding them via online?
0$ learn a skill from yt if you want to sell something look into services
“I’m fairly new to this and I have few true buyers but it seems like everyone wants to just talk. I get that’s part of it but how do I transition that into paying customers? I’m not against it but when they just want to talk for days even and not spend anything it’s really a let down submitted by /u/lilly_is_fun [link] [comments]”
“Facebook Marketplace can work, but one day is too early to judge. 20 clicks and no inquiries on day one doesn’t necessarily mean the idea is bad. For first customers, I’d go more direct. Call local venues, churches, schools, community centers, and small event spaces. Ask if they keep a preferred vendor list or if they ever need backup table/chair vendors. Also reach out to rental businesses that don’t offer what you do: tent companies, photo booth operators, AV companies, decorators, etc. They m”
“content works but you have to be consistent and patient. pick one place (reddit, linkedin, twitter, wherever your target clients actually hang out) and just answer questions in your niche for a few months. when people see you know your stuff they'll reach out. also look at local small business groups or chambers , not to pitch, just to show up and be helpful when automation comes up naturally.”
“Getting clients especially your first could be very frustrating. You can use Google maps, business directories, or if you want an automated flow, I have a personal tool I use which you can test but since you're technical, you could even use firecrawl + serpapi”
“Good advice to start, Alex Hormozi talks about finding your 5 customers and make them love your product(improve your product and your customer experience)”
“I run a several business over the past few years, I learned that not every job can be done by myself, any suggestion about my problem finding clients and closing more clients”
“totally agree, those existing relationships make all the difference. my first client was a friend who needed help with their website and it felt way more natural than cold calling strangers. you can't beat that trust factor when you're starting out!”
“networking usually wins with contractors because trust matters try building relationships with suppliers local associations and vendors who already work with construction businesses”
“Your inner circle of people are the best customers to validate the idea. Then I would try cooperation with influencers. They have a huge auditory. And can easily promote your product, if it's worth to do.”
“Fellow technical not salesperson here, so I'll speak to the community over cold outreach part since that's the route I'm on too. The thing that actually works is being genuinely useful in the specific places your buyers already hang out, answering real questions with real depth and zero pitch. People don't share a stranger's blog post, but they remember and refer the person who helped them understand something. So the order that compounds is: be specific and helpful in public”
“Hi everyone, I recently shut down my small business. I was selling automation scripts for a website, creating YouTube and TikTok videos, talking to customers, and helping them with installation. It was a very niche business, and eventually I burned out. Now I want to build something new, but I don't understand why I keep limiting myself to the same kinds of ideas I've worked on before. I can't seem to come up with anything truly different. I thought taking a break would help and that”
“This is such a good reminder. The first customer often comes from existing trust instead of cold outreach. My first real operator used echowin after we already had a relationship. He runs multiple locations and needed something configurable for handling inbound calls consistently across sites. Because he knew me, the conversation went straight to "how do I build this for my use case" instead of skepticism. That early win taught me the same lesson. Look at your network first. People goi”
“Me and a close friend have recently started a small freelance business relating to tech (we will do anything from website design to other simple things of the sort) We have sent out hundreds of emails to people and had no responses. Wondering how others have managed to get a stream of customers and managed to succeed with their business. Any advice helps😁 submitted by /u/Dry_Afternoon_3981 [link] [comments]”
“Did that first doctor client end up referring you to anyone else, or was it mostly a one-time thing that got you rolling?”
“Start a business with zero dollars is not the right way to go about it. However, if that’s the case, if it were me, I would get in a business I am either interested in or know a good amount about. Then ask yourself “What can I offer that would put me above the pack?”. Can you ship faster than Amazon? Can you provide excellent customer service? Can you have a site that is very intuitive? Before any of that I would start a social media page based on your interest and do that full time for a while.”
“This is a great example of how relationships can create opportunities also trust and timing often matter more than expensive marketing when starting out”
“A few years ago I left the corporate world and bought an existing windows and doors contractor. Well run business, but very mom and pop, everything on paper. I have an engineering background, so I set off to digitize everything and immediately hit the wall every subcontractor hits: construction software is either aimed at big GCs (expensive, and the features you actually need are behind upsells) or at home services companies (cheaper, but no commercial workflows like pay apps, change orders, ret”
“Hi everyone! I have a fashion print design studio, we design mainly womenswear brands around the world. We’ve been trying to grow for a while, and I hear a lot from sales professionals in other industries that referrals are one of the strongest channels. The problem is, our clients typically don’t want to disclose that they’re outsourcing the design, so they’re not willing to give referrals. We have tried giving them incentives such as discounts, but we just haven’t found success so far Anyone i”
“Treat the first client like a learning project set clear expectations communicate often and do not be afraid to ask questions when you are unsure.”
.. submitted by /u/IndependenceLive9428 [link] [comments]
“I'm in a remarkably similar situation. Sorry I don't have anything useful to say other than best of luck to you.”
“What was the business you had before.. probably easy to start something in the same niche”
“Hello, I'm currently going through course work for my AFC, hoping to complete by end of year, then I'll be focusing on CFP next year. I have been looking for some pro-bono clients to gain experience and experience hours. I just found my first client and we're meeting Saturday! I'm very excited! She mentioned wanting to explore options from the sale of an inherited property. I think some aspects of that transaction are outside of current scope, but others aspects I think I can hel”
“Start with a small problem you can see around you and try to sell a simple fix before building anything big. Ask 20 to 30 real people if they would pay for it and take preorders or first clients first thats how you know if it works. If you pick a service business then tools like SocLeads can help you find local leads fast from Google Maps and social sites.”
“That pattern with cold outreach is exactly what I see in every technical services firm that hasn't built a qualification playbook first. Most of them continued to build through word of mouth etc... For one of our customers we helped narrow their ICP and builta list of 50 accounts with recent signals- incidents, funding, tech stack changes etc, before we built any outreach plans. We built something for them that drives these leads for them twice a week now... Happy to share more.”
“I offered free business chats. I didn't expect to learn this much. A few nights ago I made a post saying I'd jump on Discord and chat with anyone trying to build a business. I wasn't trying to sell anything. I just had some free time and wanted to help. Around 20 people reached out. What surprised me was how much I learned. I've talked to people in all kinds of businesses. Some were ideas I'd never even thought about before. Every chat gave me a new way of looking at business”
“Can I send you a DM? I have been trying to figure out how I can branch off on my own as a marketing professional and I'd love to learn more about your story.”
“I am connecting with people on LinkedIn, emailing companies directly, applying on indeed but im getting nothing. I know I don’t have experience in this sector however I do have transferable skills. If someone who works in the industry / knows about this could give me some advice, that would be greatly appreciated ❤️ submitted by /u/OkReplacement7657 [link] [comments]”
“I'm in a similar boat. I'm pitching automation services to small construction businesses here in Ireland, mainly through cold email. I've been getting some good responses from a relatively small number of emails so far. I can't offer much more advice as I haven't gotten there myself, but I'd say cold email is a good place to start. I have a Hermes agent that finds leads and adds them to a Google Sheet. Another agent drafts the emails, and I review them each day before hit”
“My first commercial cleaning client didn’t come from an ad, a lead service, or cold outreach. My doctor was relocating to a new medical office, and I asked whether he needed someone to handle the cleaning. Because we already had a relationship, the trust barrier was much lower. Once we discussed the scope and completed the walkthrough, the opportunity moved quickly. That experience changed how I thought about finding early customers. Before spending heavily on marketing, it may be worth looking”
“got my first client from my personal brand (newsletter) . I also marketed on LinkedIn and REddit which worked well. the hardest part was the first time creating the processes and helping my client when I also didn't have much of an idea how to consult”
I was recently laid off and decided to stop chasing remote corporate roles. I am building a residential cleaning service in Tampa, FL, starting as a booking agency. I have the administrative…
“This is awkward as I want to help small businesses, so this might sound self promotional, but I am also in desperate need for help from those who have broken through the tough starting point. honestly I’m finding this bit harder than I expected. I'm a business consultant helping business owners be less of the bottleneck and reduce being reliant on everything in the business... but I have reached out to many owners, and none seem interested... is this even a problem business owners feel? I kn”
“Alright I need some guidance. For reference, I’ve had my license for a year. I’ve only done 4 open houses and added two potential clients to my network outside of people I know (2 potentials never got back but I know the market is a bit rough). That being said, I’m in a small town and the area I’m in is FLOODED with seasoned agents. How the heck do I get out there and in the mix? There isn’t much going on in the community aside from the occasional festival or town meeting. Everything else is tou”