Stop What You’re Doing and Go Get a Client

by Ben Yoskovitz on January 8th, 2007

Without customers you have no business.

That sometimes gets lost in the excitement of starting a new business. People want to build the next cool thing. People want to get funding and buy Aeron chairs. People want to strategize, plan and meet. People want to dream.

Nothing wrong with that, but where’s the revenue coming from?

What?!? We need revenue? Aside from the few examples of companies that barely had any revenue or were losing money hand-over-fist and still sold for millions of dollars, most of us have to go out and earn a living, and yup, we even need to turn a profit.

Dharmesh Shah echoes much of my thinking in Startup Founders: Start Selling Customers!

Dharmesh says, “…one of the single biggest influencers of your future success is predicated on how good the founding team is at selling.”

He lists four very important reasons why you need to go out and do sales. I would add to his urgency in this matter and say “Go get a client now.”

You can even secure clients before you’ve launched your business. And I’m not talking “beta” (everything in the Web 2.0 world is in beta these days anyway…) Before beta, you can shop around your business, your product, your ideas and find clients. At that stage they’re more like partners but they’ll be some of the best resources you’ve got available.

And I would add a 5th item to Dharmesh’s list of reasons why startup founders should get into sales (and quickly):

Your first few clients will be your biggest evangelists.

For that reason alone, you should target those first few clients very carefully. Go after clients you believe will be evangelists. Go after clients you feel will become your buzz marketers.

Go. Go get a client. Now.

5 opinions for Stop What You’re Doing and Go Get a Client

Dharmesh Shah
Jan 8, 2007 at 5:28 am

Thanks for mentioning my OnStartups.com article. I agree totally with your points

You do an even better job of infusing the requisite urgency than I do.
Ben Yoskovitz
Jan 8, 2007 at 7:27 am

“You do an even better job of infusing the requisite urgency than I do.”

That’s because I’m more panicked and riled up than you. *laugh*

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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Jan 18, 2007 at 4:04 am

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Jan 21, 2007 at 11:35 pm

[…] Enough to be compelling If you don’t have enough to be compelling, people won’t come back. For software you want enough features that someone will buy which fuels future development. If you have a more tangible product, don’t try to make it too perfect. My wife makes incredible container candles and everyone who buys them loves them, but she is a perfectionist and keeps trying to get the perfect combination of scent, burn time, looks, wick burning, etc. I keep telling her to just make them and get customers, the rest can come. Oh well, at least I get to enjoy them! (EDIT: My wife was just reading this and said “They aren’t good enough to sell yet”. I rest my case…) […]
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[…] Staying in Stealth Mode Too Long. New startups seem quite fond of stealth mode (or its newer cousin “ninja mode”), when they’re hiding under the radar but still hyping just enough to try and pique interest. But stay in stealth mode too long and you run the risk of disappearing off the radar. Never mind the fact that you can’t sell your new product or service while in stealth mode and therefore can’t generate any revenue. There are plenty of reasons why startups launch too slowly; really you need to force yourself to launch and get past all the excuses. […]

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