One of the most important things an aspiring entrepreneur can do is validate their idea by finding a client. For first time entrepreneurs, this can often feel intimidating and so we’re hoping that by sharing stories of how others before them have found their first client we can make it feel less daunting. Below, you’ll find the stories of some incredibly bright entrepreneurs and business owners sharing how they secured their first client.

David Urbinati

I had been animating little random GIFs and posting them to dribbble (back in the day when that was a popular design platform). A few of them got some decent attention and folks started reaching out asking me if I was available for freelance. I was working at a marketing agency at the time and felt confident enough to take the plunge into freelancing. Through various client projects I decided to found my company “Rocket Powered Milk Truck” and the first project I ever did was a logo animation for a company called “Themehouse.’ With great success, logo animations became a thing I did and do quite regularly! Read more>>

Robyn Olschewsky

My tall specialty t-shirt shop, Tall Reali-tees, opened its online doors near the end of November 2020. My first couple of sales were the result of word-of-mouth marketing through friends and family. Those sales were special, of course, but my very first sale that was made outside of friends and family was memorable and super exciting! It happened only a couple of weeks after I opened up shop. A woman I had never met before bought a t-shirt! Not only that, but I live in Plano and this customer was over a thousand miles away in California! I couldn’t believe it! I have the ability to see how customers come across my online store, Read more>>

Dorsey Standish

One of the first successful clients we onboarded in our new Covid-friendly business model was the law firm Haynes & Boone LLP. The firm was a self-described conservative, old-school group and had never brought in any sort of mindfulness or proactive firm-wide mental health programming before. Our first virtual session in May 2020 had over 100 attendees and the coordinators got unexpectedly positive feedback even from skeptics. Read more>>

Damaya Roberts

THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA! Once I started my business, I did not receive a sell right away. However, I remained active on my social media platforms. Staying consistent is key. It was a couple of months in when I started getting random followers and then BOOM my first order! A popular spiritual page randomly reposted one of my candles and the business took off from there! I feel as though people don’t understand how much a simple like, comment, or repost can do for a small business. I am forever thankful for that repost. Read more>>

Jessica Perry

How I got my first customer was pretty much me posting all of my matte lipsticks on Facebook and a woman from Spring seen it, with no hesitation, and insisted she wanted to purchase from a black entrepreneur. That was back in 2016 and unfortunately she is still purchasing from me til this day. Read more>>

Franklin Taggart

I was hired by my first client before I ever considered that I could be a coach. I got invited to a concert with some people I had just met. In the car on the way there, one of them started talking about her burnout in her current job and that she wasn’t sure what to do for her next career step. I talked about some of the things I’d learned when I’d gone through a similar time. When I started talking about the difference between gifts and talents, Read more>>