It’s no secret that it’s notably challenging for fledgeling entrepreneurs to secure clients. Perhaps this is because they have not had the luxury or privilege of building a network of contacts and potential clients over several years. 

While securing clients is difficult for just about every entrepreneur starting an enterprise, seasoned business owners or experienced people who have worked in a sector for extended periods tend to possess a network of contacts and potential leads in place based on past relationships.

However, this could be notably challenging for younger entrepreneurs who have recently completed their tertiary education or just entered the workforce. In this piece, we explore five pieces of advice for securing your first client as a new entrepreneur.

1. Find out who your client is. 

The first step to attracting and developing a customer base is defining who your client is. Business owners need to identify and narrow down their target market and factoring in age, location, interests and income level to determine whom they want to target.

Once you’ve defined your specific target market, ensure that you conduct extensive research into your audience to identify potential leads which could lead to sales or clients if pursued effectively. 

2. Put the word out there. 

Word of mouth advertising is perhaps the most significant source of customers for startups. Of course, paid advertising and mass marketing do work, for established brands, but for the green businessman, have chats one-on-one with key targeted individuals and gaining their will will prove invaluable in the long-run. 

3. Network and collaborate with the competition. 

Of course, this might seem counterintuitive at first; however, reaching out to your competition and similar players in your market could be extremely valuable in finding clients, especially for businesses in the infant phase. A great way of going about this is by joining any industry or sector groups and forums, online or in person. (Once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted). 

Instead of viewing other businesses as competitors, try to look at them as opportunities for your business expansion via collaboration. By networking with like-minded peers in your industry, you’ll be able to engage and learn from seasoned business owners.

4. Effective communication is vital. 

An essential element to effectively finding new clients is using clear and targeted communication. Business owners need to decide on a specific tone and style for their brand from the get-go to communicate in a consistent fashion which aligns with their target audience. Moreover, entrepreneurs have to identify which channels are most effective in reaching said clients. 

5. Never sell yourself short. 

It’s common among young entrepreneurs who lack years of experience to undervalue their business and its offerings. Instead of falling into this trap, we recommend doing extensive research to properly establish what your product and/or service is worth. Ensure that you’re passionate and confident about what your value proposition is. Young entrepreneurs should try not to be intimidated when pitching to larger clients due to the belief that they lack sufficient experience. That being said, we advise being cautious about growing too big, too quickly, as without the correct structures in place, you could ultimately damage your business.