Finding a Second Customer
When I work with people that are starting a business, especially those that are starting one with ambiguous goals or product plans (which I actually prefer), I recommend that they start by finding a second customer, and learning to sell. This establishes an income baseline, a potential first income stream, and it builds in the most important skill of business: closing the sale.
When it comes to finding a second customer, there are two approaches:
- Find a second customer for something that has been bought
We probably all have a bunch of stuff sitting at home that we bought thinking we needed it, and maybe have a bit of buyers remorse for. Or we have some things that have outlived their usefulness in our lives. Our things that we thought we didn't own, and now we own two of. Or things that simply have exited our life rhythms and no longer spark joy. These are all great things to sell: old books, board games, video game consoles. These already have a defined value--what you paid for them, and an easy way to confirm if that value has gone up, down, or stayed the same--googling the item and any website that sells third parties, like eBay, is revelatory.
- Find a second customer for your time
If a person has a skill or capability that they are currently paid for, they already understand the value of their time. Finding someone else to pay you for your time at a similar value is hard, for sure--especially in markets where time is all you are selling, or where there is an abundance of skill. But finding a second customer for your time, similar to a second customer for an item, eliminates a lot of unknowns.
I recommend this approach for a lot of reasons--mostly around unknowns. First, an item that has already sold has a much better chance of proven product market, and the value in that market is defined. I think this solves the hardest part of selling for most people. I don't think it is that people do not like to ask for someone to pay them, but rather than in a dynamic market, we must be convinced of our own value proposition. We must know for ourselves that the price we are asking is reasonable and fair before we feel comfortable asking for it.