There are so many varied experiences when it comes to starting a business. From what we’ve seen, there is no one, right answer. Some people found success by writing a business plan, spending months or years perfecting the idea and only then approaching their first client while others found their first client before they had even settled on a name for their business. Below, you’ll find the stories of how entrepreneurs from across industries and markets found their first clients.
Jodeci Crutcher
My first client was one of my followers on Facebook. I was planning a trip to Los Angeles and I had a friend of mine make me a couple shirts with my logo on them, posted a picture of the shirts and people just kept messaging me about buying a shirt or hoodie with that on it and from there the rest was history. Read more>>
Shaneka “Elle” Williams
At 13, middle school age, I was my first client. People, adults and kids my age would ask me who styled my hair, and when I would tell them “me”, they didn’t believe me. By the time I got to high school, I had also started styling one of my cousin’s hair. We would try a new style every week with inspiration from hair magazines and some of the hairstylists here in Savannah. Of course people would then ask her who styled her hair and she would refer them to me. She became my walking billboard and speaking voucher for my talent. There were still many that didn’t believe, they thought she was lying because we were related. After admiring my cousin and my hair for some time, a classmate from our school asked if I could style her hair. Of course I said yes, and the next day after school I had all of my tools in her parent’s living room having fun in her hair! She loved her hair and I collected my first ten dollars. The feeling of being paid to do something I liked to do really intrigued me and lit a fire for me to continue to pursue! Read more>>
Lindsey Marie Greeley
Getting my first client happen to be by chance, I was completing in building at the time. I was only weeks out from a competition, I started my first personal training job at Xsport fitness. I was working out and I had two girls come up to me mid leg day that they wanted to train with me. From there it really started with me working out, then I got an Instagram following my accident. From there that’s where I took off getting clients based upon name Read more>>
Eddie Ramos
Growing up I had no idea I would ever start a coaching business. In 2015, two years after I moved to Los Angeles I started an online acting blog called The Modern Actor. I wanted a place to document what I was experiencing as an actor in LA and share some of the tips I was learning along the way. In 2018, I added a newsletter and out of the blue I received an email from a young man asking if I could teach him how to become an actor. I went back and forth with myself debating whether I had anything to really teach him, as I didn’t have any Oscars on my shelf or 3-picture deals lined up. Who was I to give advice? Despite my initial lack of confidence, something told me to go for it. I reminded myself I had learned a lot as an actor for over 10 years and being able to teach sparked something deep inside of me. I’m so glad I listened to that voice. Read more>>
Amy Lanci
The story of my first client was an interesting one.
I started my first business as a health coach in 2015. At the time, I had finished my health coaching certification at the same time as becoming a mom. Needless to say, I spent very little time on my business as I was navigating the journey of motherhood while also working a full-time job, that was an hour’s commute each way from my home. Then, in 2016 I gave it the good ole college try. I networked, I went to workshops and I even got coaches to guide me along the way. But still, my business persisted as a non-profit and made no money whatsoever. Read more>>
Naomi Bernard
It was my friend’s coworkers band!
They threw a small festival on fiesta island that they didn’t charge people for, but paid me all they could afford at the time. They had other food vendors that people could help support and their Venmo for anything anyone was wanting to give. I felt honored that they’d even pay me for it. It was a blast! I got some dope photos and had a fun time working with them. Read more>>
Jordan Birnbaum
I was finishing up my Master’s, and my intention was to become a consultant and authority in the application of behavioral science in solving for problems in the workplace. I was in a bit of a funk; a friend called me on a Sunday morning and asked if I’d like to join him and his wife at a house party in Brooklyn. I probably felt like saying no, but thank goodness I didn’t. At the party I started talking with a guy who built workplace apps for a living. He explained that teams would ask him to build a product and commit to using it. He’d deliver exactly what they wanted, and then they would never use it. “Next time tell them other people are using it.” I told him about Cialdini’s social proof experiments, and my belief that the expectations you set for a product are far more impactful than the product. He said something like, “I’ve learned more in the last hour than I have in the last two years.” To which I responded, “Then hire me. I’m just starting my consulting practice.” And he did. My first client was ADP, and my first project was Compass. Eventually I became too important to the product to remain a consultant, and so ADP brought me on full-time as VP and Chief Behavioral Economist. Compass won Top Product at HR Tech in 2017, and the guy who hired me was at my wedding and remains among my closest friends. Read more>>
Lily Hart
Regardless of what you are selling whether it be art, a product you have developed, or a service, your first clientele should always be your close friends and family. I take this approach for various reasons, the first being that your network will give you honest input which is very important. Learning from your trusted network about how they experienced what you are selling, what they liked, disliked, and could improve on is the best way to perfect your products and services before doing a full launch. Another key reason is that growing slowly while building a solid foundation of clients is the best way to grow because so much comes with a big order or tons of orders. Let’s say you do amazing marketing and get 1000 orders of your products but don’t have the infrastructure to fulfill the or the customer service systems set up to answer questions you just got yourself in trouble and left a bad taste in the mouth of your first clients. When I ran my marketing agency, the clients I helped who focused on slow and steady growth are the only ones still operating today. Those who took shortcuts or dumped a ton of money into marketing without building out their internal systems first are all gone, so there’s that. Read more>>
Sherese Patton
Wow, I think about this a lot. My first client was Jerica Stacks, who owned Quora Beauty. Quora Beauty was an organic cosmetics brand that used all-natural materials to make their products and conducted no animal testing. She was not only my client, but she was my project during my master’s degree program. During that time, we had to have an actual client and everything we did on this project for the project, was live! Everything from the website development, to the photoshoots, to gaining media attention, we did live and had to document and give analytics. She gave me exposure to having an actual client. Read more>>
Lacey & Marley Hellenbrand
There was a new boutique opening in the small town we live in, and we were running errands with some family members. It happened to be this new boutique’s grand opening that day, and we discussed wanting to stop in but didn’t feel we were prepared yet. We had just launched our spiritual business and didn’t even have business cards yet. We knew something was drawing us to this new boutique, but we weren’t ready to meet the owners yet. The family members running errands with us insisted we stop by the new boutique – despite our protests. Read more>>