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.

Tanisha Coffey

When I started out in business, I jumped in. I didn’t have a traditional business plan. I was just using what I knew how to do / the skills I had picked up in my post-grad program at Portfolio Center. I ended up finding an online website for Freelancers called Elance. I set up a profile on that website and sat in the second bedroom of my apartment day after day submitting proposals, hoping someone would hire me. Eventually, someone did! I did copywriting for a company that provided video dance lessons. That client ended up being a repeat client for several projects. Read more>>

Jose Guerrero Galvan

After doing most of my first work with friends and family, I scrolled through my social media and noticed a message in my DM. It was from a stranger asking for my rates,I remember reading the message over and over again. I was and still am on my photos speaking for themselves, selling themselves. After typing and retyping my response I finally sent the message, sending a questionnaire of what the potential client wanted to accomplish. After meeting and setting the goal we closed and had a blast photographing my first official photoshoot. Read more>>

Kassandra Vredenburg

One of the first clients I’ve ever gotten, and quite frankly how I get many of my clients, was just by sparking a conversation with some kind strangers. It was the 4th of July and I was very excited to photograph the fireworks here in Fort Collins. They do the fireworks over the City Park and it’s always really beautiful with this particular lake in the park and I wanted to capture the reflections of the show in the water. I ended up laying a blanket out on the bank and waited for the sun to go down and the magic to happen. The park was really crowded and over time there were people cluttered in every space you could find. I noticed a man with his younger son were moving through the crowd struggling to find a place to sit so I invited them onto my blanket to watch the fireworks. Read more>>

Abbey Kay

I got my first client by walking into a local product shop, becoming a customer, sharing about that product through social media, having them reshare my photos countless times, and then me approaching them to ask if I could take their website photos for them. Read more>>

 Jon Pushkin

About a week after deciding to start my own solo PR agency, I was playing a music gig at a bar in Denver. I ran into a woman at the gig who I new from my previous job. She worked for another company in the same office building. She said she had just started doing marketing for an integrative medicine provider and asked if I knew anyone who was looking for some contract PR work. I said, as a matter of fact…and that turned out to be my first real client. It also got me started doing healthcare PR, which became a specialty for Pushkin PR. Maybe I just got lucky that night, or sometimes things happen for a reason. Either way it worked out pretty well. Read more>>

Canisha Pope

My very first client came from actually a client I was supposed to do their wedding for. Unfortunately, they had some financial troubles at the time, so I wasn’t able to execute their wedding (they did however get married at the courthouse). When I launched my business, they immediately messaged me and asked to plan their honeymoon. I was SUPER excited because I knew how much they wanted this. We discussed everything that they wanted for their honeymoon (location, dates, etc.) and I quickly found hotels & excursions that fit their budget and had everything that they wanted. My first couple will be going to Jamaica for their honeymoon & I can’t wait to hear about their trip. Read more>>

 Jasmine Williams

My first client was someone I met through a networking community. At first, I thought I did everything wrong to get a client. I met up with them in-person for coffee, going way out of my way for a first meeting. I also thought I gave them too much information because I wrote out a whole strategy for them on a napkin. However, I guess giving them too much worked in my favour because they emailed me after to work with me! Read more>>

Karlie Svebakken

If I had one piece of advice to give about getting your first client, I’d say don’t ever ignore the power of word-of-mouth marketing. I say this all the time, but I truly owe all the success of my business to my older sister. I told her that I was planning on starting a branding and website design business, so she mentioned it to someone she knew, who then mentioned it to someone they knew, and so on. And eventually, my very first client came directly from that word-of-mouth trail! Even now, I can easily trace back through the tree of clients and see how they’re all connected from that very first referral from my sister. So tell as many people as possible! Tell your friends, your family, your past coworkers, your old teachers, whoever! You never know who might know of someone that needs your services. Read more>>

Kailey Fisher

Pony kween wasn’t traditional by any means. I first started to post my art work on my personal page just to share. I later found the community of crochet on instagram and connected with my best friend sam. Totally changed my entire life. I went from lost and insecure about my art to feeling so supported and encouraged to start my little journey. There wasn’t too much structure to how I planned to market, or even reach a customer base. May 8, 2022 I woke up and decided to make a separate instagram account under my festival names alter ego. I just wanted a place to share my art in hopes someone else out there might resonate with it. Knowing I wanted to continue to make art I needed income to do just that. I then started to list a few pieces on depop and just left it alone. The first piece I sold was the rezz og wonky skirt. She wasn’t perfect by any means but I was just thrilled 1. knowing someone out there was going to wear my art. 2. I now was given an opportunity to keep making art. Through instagram I was also able to connect with a member in the rave community I had respected and admired. Madi allowed me to make her the iconic ganja white night inspired wonky skirt. This moment opened so many new doors for pony kween that I will forever be thankful for. I owe Madi everything. She not only continued to support my crazy, sometimes not perfected designs but wore them confidently. I then got my very first paid custom in June 2022. Jassaleen has such a special place in my heart for not only taking a chance on a total no name artist, but to wear it and photograph it so well at a massive festival. I defiantly cried for a solid hour just in shock my dreams might become a reality. At this point I operated through dms strictly and accepted payment through Venmo, belle or cash app. I sold my first wonky for $100. Beyond stoked I could make her a wonky then possibly make a new wonky for fun. Insane moment. So much so that she is also apart of the brands logo. I felt like I was on cloud 9 for a solid month after this sale. Knowing becoming a full time independent artist was in the realm of possibility and no longer just a day dream. Read more>>

Petra Alejandra

My first time actually taking a client was many many year ago I want to say back in 2018 . I was super nervous because I never worked on anyone besides myself or my friends . I use to do makeup transformations on myself all the time and uploaded them to my instagram account. It was around prom season for middle school in my home town, so I uploaded a flyer on social media and said I would be taking five clients for a full makeup and eyelash glam for twenty five dollars. I honestly thought I would get NOBODY AT ALL . But God had other plans for me and them five spots that I had available had got booked less then one hour of posting . I was truly blessed and knew this was my calling that God has blessed me with such an amazing gift . Read more>>

Carmea Lawrence

A friend of my partner’s had just started a small business selling lip gloss, and she asked if I could take some photos for her site. I was so nervous because I had never done product photography before, and I hadn’t even begun to think about pricing, but I was very excited. We discussed the branding colors, details of her site and more. We exchanged $50 for the shoot, and I asked if she could bring me 2 samples of each product, so I had some items to work with. I started researching how different companies marketed their products in their photos and tried to figure out what I could create on my next to nothing budget. I found some iridescent reflective craft paper from my local dollar store, tape, mini mirrors, and used an old set of tabletop lights to create as many images as I could. I played around with different angles that I thought would make the products stand out against the backdrops I chose. After 5 days, I delivered 34 images to my first client. She was so happy when I sent them! I think I was a little surprised myself that she like them so much, but I was proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and try something new. Read more>>

Ines Garstecki

This is not my first client, but the first event planner I got connected to. I belonged to a business networking group to help start my business. One of the members had a gift basket company and had just gotten a large order from that said event planner and wanted to send her Thank You flowers. She told me a little bit about her style and sense of esthetics and told me that this would be a great person to work with. I made her flowers double the size than what she paid for, made them extra special with some time-consuming details and it all paid off. The florist the event planner and used so far had just gotten married and was pregnant and didn’t want to do flowers anymore. She was actively looking for a new florist and my arrangement came just in time. She loved my flowers and gave me my first big event job. We have been working together ever since (for 17 years now) and she has been one of my biggest supporters in the growth of my business. Read more>>

Miles Brockman

The first client that I ever had was my god-sister Jaymi. She was the one who really put the fire in me to bring B. Smoove Auto Detailing to life. I had no intentions on ever starting my own detailing business, however my skills said I should! It was exciting feeling knowing that someone close to me believed me and wanted to support me and encouraged me to become an entrepreneur. Read more>>

Sali Ouattara

End of 2015 , My products were listed on Amazon and EBay for 1 month without customers. In January 2016 I took a risk to open my own website. My first order came after 3 months and was just a $20 bonnet . I was so overwhelmed. Happy that someone would trust my work and order from me. The excitement, the joy and the motivation to keep pushing, to keep going grew more and more since. Read more>>

 Iris Elizabeth

Before partnering with local Beauty Supply stores, I started selling my hair growth oil on social media. I kept promoting, I did a one-day sale, and I received great responses and gained lots of customers. This was the day I knew this is what I was meant to do. Since high school I have always mixed and made my own products and used them on clients. Through the years and after learning more and more about different hair types and textures I became more interested in the ingredients being used, I knew this could not be a “one size fits all”. Read more>>

Chris Ewing

I like to joke that I started my website and brand design business by accident. In early 2020, at the peak of the Covid-19 lockdown, I created a few brands and websites for local wedding vendors that were friends of mine. My very first client was a Make Up Artist & I did a happy dance in my living room when I got my very first paid invoice! Read more>>

Troi Brown

Walkins are really the name of the game when it comes to branching out in the barbering field. Initially that’s how you eat. When your family consists of mostly women, same with your immediate friend group, you don’t have many options to work with. They have to support your business in other ways such as sharing a social media post or handing out my business cards etc. Me being a soft spoken female entering this industry was definitely a challenge in the beginning. Being nervous around potential clientele, being scared to mess up or dreading them hating the final outcome. Just trying to find where I fit in and what made sense. I had to quickly realize confidence is what’s key. No one wants to be serviced by someone who makes it apparent that they don’t know what they’re doing. Once that confidence soars inside of you, there’s literally nothing that can stop you. If you feel good, your client will feel good, on top of that before they leave your chair they’ll then look good! It’s a win/win situation. That first dollar made in a new venture is always a stamp to show where I was, where I am now and where I’m going. It’s more than just the money but that first dollar is the drive I need to tell myself this is just the beginning, let’s work. Read more>>

Sydni Allyse

The great thing about having a travel agent is that sometimes you don’t have to pay in full and can arrange a payment plan. Being as though this was an elaborate trip; we created a payment system that’s easily accessible for clients to activate, understanding that payment in full is required one month prior to a scheduled departure date. Read more>>

Samie Burnett

The first client I got was through word of mouth. She was interested in modeling and wanted to start somewhere. When she contacted me I was hesitant to tell her the price because a lot of people seemed to have found it too expensive. After I told her the price for the Model Bootcamp that I offer she did not hesitate to send the payment. She did so with no problem due to the experience and what was included in the whole experience. She definitely motivated me to not give up and to keep my price as is. Read more>>

Arsh Sanwarwala

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the world of business and entrepreneurship. The freedom to carve my own path and control my destiny was more exciting to me than anything else in life. However, starting my own UX/UI and web design agency was far from my initial plans. Read more>>

Lyn Orzech

The story of how my passion for miniature painting started goes back to the 90’s, but the actual birth of Metalhead Minis was in July of 2009. Read more>>

Yitzchak Pierson

The first client I ever got as a Residential REALTOR® was from doing a group cycling class at my gym, I’ve always been very introverted, and usually exercise alone, so doing a group cycling class was definitely out of my comfort zone. But I was challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people, as a new REALTOR® I knew that this was a must in order to grow and thrive in the business. I overheard the class instructor talking to one of the other class participants saying she was moving to California, so I decided to strike up a conversation and I told her I was a REALTOR® and she said “oh do you wanna sell my house” and I said absolutely! Read more>>

Gary Krebs

While I had been a book publisher for three decades, my true calling was always to write. When I left my last publishing role seven years ago, I spoke to several industry friends about how I might initiate a full-time career as a writing collaborator (also known by some as a ghostwriter, if there isn’t any credit assigned). One literary agent friend suggested I write to twenty or so industry contacts and attach a list of book credits with areas of interest. I thought I’d give it a shot. Read more>>

Chunlei Deng

Get ready for a heartwarming story that will make you believe in the power of serendipity! Imagine this: my very first photography booking didn’t come through a friend or a referral, but it all started with a simple post on Nextdoor. Isn’t that amazing? Let me set the scene for you: I had been working hard, building up my portfolio, and dreaming of reaching my ideal clients. Then, out of the blue, Nextdoor popped up on my radar with a community message. And that’s when inspiration struck! I had a lightbulb moment – why not share my work with the lovely folks in my neighborhood? It was like a spark ignited inside me. I quickly created a post, pouring my heart into showcasing my passion for photography. And guess what? It didn’t take long for the magic to happen! A friendly and oh-so-wonderful mom came across my post and reached out to me. I couldn’t contain my excitement! Who would’ve thought everything would happen so smoothly and quickly? That amazing family became my first-ever clients, and I will forever treasure the beautiful memories we captured together. I am beyond grateful for that incredible mom who gave me the chance to document their precious moments. And you know what? This heartwarming experience didn’t end there. Those magical photos caught the attention of others, and soon enough, more clients were knocking on my door, eager to have their own stories told through my lens. It’s incredible how one simple post led to an abundance of joyous opportunities! Read more>>