Normally someone who decides to go into business to work for themselves and do their own thing already has clients lined up, or they might have identified a clear gap in the market which is just waiting for them go reach out and grab their market share. There are many instances however when going into business is a consequence of an impulsive decision to just get away from the routine and go it alone. Often this makes for the most driven of entrepreneurs, but the reality is that you’ll be faced with a serious challenge on two fronts.

Number one; what business are you going to get into and number two; how are you going to land your first client to set the ball rolling?

I mentioned finding your feet by way of which business you’re going to get to from the point of view of an entrepreneur because entrepreneurs are in the business of making money, not necessarily looking for a specific business to make money through. Entrepreneurs chase opportunities and so they may make a lot of pivots along the way, but at the same time it’s important to settle on a set of skills you know you have and can monetise and use those skills to isolate a market to get into.

So you’ll have to get right into it. Get busy solving problems with solutions which you can monetise – simple as that!

Finding clients

Your first client will perhaps be the most important figure forming part of your foray into the business world, so make sure to provide them with a great service so that you can not only begin to build up your own confidence but also build up a portfolio of good references.

So landing that first client is a simple matter of first getting the word out there and then when this typically only yields a little bit of noise that sounds like a bit of interest, take more of an active approach to hunting these prospects down. You might have to take a hit and settle for a loss to land your first client and this is because as a newbie entering what is likely an established market, you have no credibility and therefore there is no other incentive for clients to leave their established service providers and suppliers for the services of a newbie.

Some hard graft will be required of you because clients can only learn about your offering if you let them know about it. Even if in the long term you have nothing to offer which will set you apart from your competitors, at least then you’ll have an established client base which likely won’t want to go to the trouble of doing all the admin that comes with changing suppliers again.

In any industry or market you’ll be entering, there is always but always room for improvement and there are always a number of clients who aren’t happy with what they have to settle for at the moment.