You have your first customer, now what?

Right?

Do you know where you are going from here? You may or may not, and let me tell you, that’s okay. The first customer is actually a great milestone to amp up your effort and aim for more: More customers, more revenue, more growth.

But you got to know the good steps to take next. That’s why this guide will show you all the best tips to advance from your first customer. Let’s see how to do it!

1. Make your business plan as detailed as possible

You finally got your first customer, and now I’m already telling you to have more planning. Yes, I know that can sound a bit much. But, understand this, your first customer may be all luck, you don’t really know where your next customers will come from.

Your business plan will be critical in attracting the proper people to your business and ensuring that these customers stay with you in the long run.

If you have a business plan already, now is the time to re-check it. When you're reaching out to your network and asking for referrals, it'll help you better express the value you provide.

2. Adjust your customer profiles

You may have had a theory on your customers on who they are, what they do, how much they earn, etc. Well, now you have your first customer, see if that theory is true.

And work your way from that to keep updating your customer profiles. Ask these questions:

• Do you believe that a specific demographic, location, or job title is more likely to be your customer?
• What is the problem that you are going to fix for them?
• What are they doing now to solve that problem?
• What are the most serious issues they have?

You should put some time into updating your customer profiles once in a while. When you have 100, or 1000, or 10000 customers, for example? You will get there, don’t worry.

3. Network for more opportunities

Meeting new people and telling them who you are, what your business can do is the best approach to boost brand awareness. Join your local communities of ecommerce, trade associations, and other organizations.

If that sounds like too much work, there are always online Facebook groups for you to join. But real-life connections often lead to many surprises in acquiring more customers. So, don’t be shy, set up a Meetup meeting with other sellers in your neighborhood.

4. Ask for referrals

You got yourself a customer, so I suppose your business idea must have one or two interested parties. These can be your parents, friends, colleagues, or that guy you only talk to once every six month.

Either way, they don’t have to become your customers, but they may know someone that has potential to be. The best approach is to see if they’re in an industry related to your ideal buyers.

"I'm thrilled you're interested in my [product/service]," you might tell them. “Is there anyone else you know who could benefit from my [product/service]?"

5. Promote your business and products

All of the above tips are all free to start implementing, but when all those don’t yield much results, you need to turn your head to the good old pal: Advertising.

You can generate relevant visitors to our company's website and considerably increase conversions by designing targeted advertising and bidding on specified keywords. If you want to attract more consumers, this form of advertising is incredibly beneficial.

Google Ads is still the best tool to do this, but you can look at Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok as well if your customers hang out there. However, remember to keep an eye on your promotion budget to make sure you don’t break the bank.

6. Find businesses to partner with

It all boils down to collaborating and developing partnerships with other brands, whether we're talking about how to gain more customers, increase your market reach, or any other business-related subject.

Connecting with businesses with whom you share customers is incredibly effective and doesn’t cost much. For example, if you’re offering baby products, find a business that sells maternity products.

Together, you and your partner can come up with a co-branding plan that will generate new customers for both of you.

7. Do market research frequently

At this step, you should also begin conducting market research in order to connect with people who could be interested in buying your product or service.

How? You can begin by posting on social media platforms, forums, and threads, among other places. There's no need to use a more complex market research technique. The idea is to post in public locations where potential buyers may notice your business and connect with you.

Find some relevant Reddit communities and you’re good to go. If you have trouble generating interested people, consider using some sort of monetary or product incentive (such as a giveaway) to draw people in.

The goal here is to learn about your potential customers on the way. Which types of consumers react more to your product, how they think about your business, and what you can do to make them purchase. That is the key for more customers than you can dream of.

8. Keep inventing

It will be difficult to get consumers for your online business, but it will be worthwhile - especially when you understand more about your prospects' needs and develop an ideal customer profile.

Follow the tips above and invent some of your own ideas, then you will be good to go!