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.
Andrew Psyk

The First dollar Prestige Home Improvement brought in was junior year in high school, I was with one of my good friends, and we were going door to door. Eventually, we landed our first job which was power washing before we had established a crew. Having a business gives me a sense of independence and freedom. Read more>>
Alfonzo Gonzalez Jr

I decided to take a break from volunteer coaching with Luke’s Locker after a few years. That summer, I was contacted by three of my former runners from the Luke’s Locker Marathon Program. They invited me to a restaurant to discuss if I would be interested in coaching them to qualify for the Boston Marathon. It was such a compliment that they wanted me to be their coach! Read more>>
Yudelka Salcedo

Before Little Tiny Fun, I participated as a vendor at various City of Fairburn Parks and Recreation events, selling children’s books I had written and customized kids’ clothes I had made under my brand, The Yubrand. At one particularly cold festival, I met the director of my daughter’s dance school, who later introduced me to the staff at Parks and Recreation. I started out volunteering my soft-play setup at their community events, and it quickly became a favorite with the board. Eventually, they hired me for future festivals. I’ll never forget the excitement of sending out my first invoice and receiving that first payment 30 days later. It was a special moment, knowing my work had truly taken off. Read more>>
Bree Mills

Ah, my very first client—talk about a full-circle moment! I had just made the transition to begin offering business mentorship services and began talking about it on Instagram, where I do almost all of my marketing. I was posting my usual mix of entertainment, education, and relatable content and began mixing in some content that was more specifically focused toward entrepreneurs with ADHD who were struggling with content marketing on Instagram. One day, I get a DM. This amazing ADHD coach who was struggling with content strategy and planning and wanted to kick her business into a growth phase She said she’d been watching my Reels and reading my posts for a few weeks and connected with my story and saw a lot of herself in my personality and felt like she knew me. She loved how I wasn’t just parroting generic business advice and strategies but was talking directly to ADHD entrepreneurs like her, focusing strongly on Radical Authenticity in entrepreneurship and combining it with strategies that were accessible to people whose brains work a little different than the neurotypical crowd. Read more>>
Leslie Lehr

When my first novel won the Pirates Alley Faulkner Prize, the conference leaders flew me to New Orleans and put me up in a penthouse to accept the award. Before the ceremony, a hurricane caused the city to shut down. When I returned the following year I didn’t get the penthouse, but I met my new agent and my editor from Random House. I overheard my agent tell other writers about my query letter and the editor telling writers to read my novel. Between the fiction award and getting a screenplay produced the same year, I was hired to teach in the Writers Program at UCLA, to hold private workshops, and begin consulting one on one. I was publishing in both fiction and nonfiction, so I was walking the walk – doing as well as teaching. I’m still actively writing and have a reputation for having X-ray vision to help other writers develop their stories. I love my job! Read more>>