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.

Candi Daniels

My first client was a Christmas Party for the Department of Social Services in South Carolina. This lady who I didn’t know at church one Sunday just randomly started talking to sharing her career stories and I’m sitting here looking like “Umm ok thank you for the story” lol! She then ask me what do i do for a living. I told her I’m currently unemployed but I’m starting a catering business. She then ask what made me want to start a catering business? I said I’m good at cooking and I wanna sell it to lots of people! Lol! We laughed and she said how’d you like to cater my jobs Christmas gathering. I said forreal?! She said yes I see how excited you get talking about it and I want to invest in you. I said well alright now! Read more>>

Gurmukh Bhasin

In 2016 I decided to start my own 3D Concept Design business. Before then, I had worked as a designer at various large video game, entertainment and architectural companies. While working as a professional, I had always done my own design projects in my spare time for fun, because I often felt like my professional work was never fully my own. With art directors, CEO’s, lead designers and clients always having a hand in guiding the design in one direction or another, I would often wish the final design was something different than what it turned out to be. Read more>>

LaTonya Davis

I got my first client because of an ally. In fact, this person saw a video of me on LinkedIn and sent it to the board of directors and said they should hire me to lead their racial equity and DEIB training and planning. Can you believe it? It was the best meeting I had because I did not have to pitch, do a sales call or anything else. They already knew I was aligned for the opportunity. It was a great meeting because as CEO of my company I knew what I could do to support the board of directors. Not only was I able to build the content and audit, but it helped them develop their action plan. It has been a few years and they are still going strong with their action plans. In fact, they won an award for the work they did. Read more>>

Steve Taylor

To grow Let’s Party! we leaned on established friendships and relationships built through years of working within the surf industry. Nothing gets bought or sold unless there is trust. Building that trust is normally growing a relationship of sorts. The customer needs to trust you will deliver what you say you will, in a timely manner and that product will show up ready to use, or ready to re-sell in the case of selling to retailer. And equally as important, sell to people you trust because at the end of the day, you need to get paid. Read more>>

Joey Farese

The DJ business is like a lot of other businesses in that word of mouth is very important. It’s ironic because word of mouth is as important a decade later as it was in the beginning, I started by DJing friends parties and from there earned a lot of positive reviews online which led to more business and even more positive word of mouth. Eventually, all the buzz landed us a weekly residency at The Nixo downtown. When the owner of St Felix Hollywood walked in and saw us spinning there, we earned another weekly residency at his bar. It’s a cycle that never stops as long as you continue to provide excellent service. Read more>>

Anasa Greaves

Getting my first client during my very first pop-up shop, which was essentially my garage-turned-studio, was an electrifying moment in my journey. I vividly recall hitting the streets with my flyers, and my cousin and I left no stone unturned – we slipped them under windshield wipers, tucked them into mailboxes, and handed them to local business owners. But the magic truly happened on that day when I saw several unfamiliar faces walking into my space, and let me tell you, it felt amazing. Read more>>

Jim Davis

When I was in the seventh grade, my mother left her carrier with Johnston & Murphy as a District Sales Manager to open “Blinds Unlimited”. I was raised in the world of window treatments and interior design. I used to ride around with my mom listening to her talk to designers, watching her measure, and build a business from the ground up. I used to paint and sand plantation shutters, install blinds and shades, and eventually got into sales. I departed my hometown of Hahira, GA to move to Atlanta to pursue a carrier in the restaurant industry. I managed high end restaurants here in Atlanta. I was about to move to Chicago where I was going to take a GM role for a very established restaurant when I decided to open Jim Davis Designs. Read more>>

Jennifer Lopez

I heard about a wonderful pet store that sells quality products, cares about their customers and vendors, and supports their community, Pet Palooza, was my first client. Was I nervous when I walked into the store with my cookies? No, I was excited! I believe whole heartedly in my cookies and the health benefits they can offer dogs and I was excited to be a new vendor. I walked into the store with my marketing kit and spoke with the manager. I tend to ramble and talk fast when I’m excited and I knew I was doing this because she asked me to please slow down. I told her my story about how I created my company and recipes. I then asked her to try one of my cookies. She didn’t blink, picked one up and started munching. Read more>>

Reia Janay

As a child, I discovered my passion for art early on. Despite being shy, I would create unique outfits for my dolls by designing and cutting out my patterns. My mother played a significant role in encouraging me to pursue my artistic talents. She entered me into a raffle for a free class at the Art Museum of Arkansas, and I was fortunate enough to win. Attending that class ignited my passion and boosted my confidence as an artist. My first course was a sculpture class, and I was thrilled to win first place with my giraffe sculpture. It was displayed in the museum for six months, and I will never forget that moment. I continued to improve my skills by attending classes, watching tutorials, and exploring various mediums. Read more>>

Andrew Koussevitzky

My first clients followed me from a previous job did because of the personalized legal assistance I provided them. They hired me with a handshake on their coastal cannabis farm in Santa Barbara. Earning those first dollars symbolized their trust in me and the start of a rewarding journey built on strong relationships and exceptional personalized service. Read more>>

Josephine Villasenor

Hi I started my company in 2017 and I had clients coming to me from my previous job. They loved my customer service and it started all with the special making if Aztec Bats and a Pinata. From there word by word of how prompt and easy it was too work with me that I started too get more and more clients. Read more>>

Paul Cassarly

After I decided to launch my own business, I figured that I needed to find out who was going to be my customer. I segmented demographics, and came up with two different under-served groups: churches and veterans. After some searching in my local area, I decided to get in touch with a local Methodist church. They were in desperate need of a new website, and so I not only was able to help them build out a new website, but I took new photos of their church and even taught their secretary how to navigate the backend system. Read more>>