How to find your first paying customers

Starting your own business can be as exciting as it may be nerve–wracking, and your road to future success starts with your first customer.

Landing your first customer will require a mix of old fashion face-to-face networking as well as identifying your service's benefits.

Before you begin handing out your business card or brochure, you have to be able to explain the type of services you offer and the benefits to your potential clients.

For example, the laser hair removal treatments you offer your customers have a number of advantages over traditional waxing or shaving such as;

- Laser hair removal is permanent

- Laser hair removal is cheaper over the long term

- Laser hair removal is not painful, unlike waxing

- Laser hair removal is quicker than waxing or shaving

- Laser hair removal saves time in your personal life

- There are no ingrown hairs with laser hair removal

- Laser hair removal is less irritating to the skin

Once you know all the benefits of each of the services you will be offering, be sure to include them on your brochure and other marketing materials.

Ok, now that you are prepared, it's time to actually go out and do some legwork, whether that is calling on friends and family, old bosses, colleagues from your last job or even your casual acquaintances from your community – such as your friendly bank teller or grocery store cashier.

Look closely at your circle of friends and family to help you launch your service, not only are they great first customers, but they can help you spread the word once they've experienced their first successful treatments!

TIP: Be sure to ask for feedback from your first customer to help you fix any small problems or bumps in your service or business. If your clients are family or friends, they may be hesitant to voice a complaint, but their opinions are equally important.

Once you have connected with your immediate circle of friends, family and acquaintances, it's time to spread out your audience reach. The trick here it to think local; Go to in-person networking events hosted by your local Chamber of Commerce and other community events.

TIP: It takes effort when just starting out to grow your business, so here is an easy daily goal everyone can reach - Give your brochure/business card to 5 new people each day. That’s it. Just do that and you will grow your customer base.

With the power of social media, it is also important to look for local business groups and other related groups on Facebook or Linkedin. Through these channels you can say hello and introduce yourself and business services. You would be surprised at the number of potential customers that can be found here, that you would never reach otherwise.

Of course there are many other methods of marketing your services, such as flyers, website, blogs, local newspaper advertising and each are valuable in finding new c lients as well as retaining existing customers.

TIP: When you hand out your business card or brochure, don't just wait for them to call you – give them a call in a day or two, while you're conversation is still fresh in their minds.

Finally, it is important to remember that each client is much more valuable than the price of a single treatment – during lifetime of each client you should earn many treatments and referrals leading to even more customers and profits. After the first treatment of each of your customers, be sure to craft a friendly, short and personal text message or email, so they know how much you value their business.

Keep this in mind and treat all your customers as if they are the most important person in the world to you and in return your business will be a huge success.

With the purchase of a Diode, we strive to ensure you are a success and offer free marketing and advertising tools, as well as advice, tips and articles that can help you reach your full business potential.