How long did it take to build up a customer base for your business?

[tranguyen]

Hey everyone 👋

When you are starting a new venture, it can take a while before you get your first customer and build up a community of customers around your business. And the work doesn’t stop after those early days either. 

Inspired by @Committed's question on how to attract more clients to their business, we’d love to know:

How long did it take to build up a customer base for your business?

What did you do to source them and how did you feel when you got your first yes or that first sale? Share with us below!

[wanda33]

Hello i would say for me on my House Cleaning business it took me about 3-6 months to get a decent amount of clients and then from there it just continued to grow 

[maxpete]

What would you say was the biggest driver in growth after the 3-6 months?

[wanda33]

I would have to say word of mouth and lots of Facebook posts and advertising was the driver's in my business since I'm do House Cleaning 

[maxpete]

Very cool to hear!

[wanda33]

Thank you. What kind of business do you do?

[maxpete]

I'm on the community team here at Square! But I used to run my own web design freelance business in the past 🙂 

[wanda33]

Are you still interested in web design I need help with my website so bad nut can't afford much

[maxpete]

I'm not much into design anymore, but happy to help with pointers! Although, I recommend checking out our Square Online board for tips and advice from other Sellers too! 

We also have a directory of specialists too!

[Doran]

For me, about a year.  BUT, I had to move to a more reputable salon to do it.  The first salon I worked in was a mess and I did not grow my books much there.  After getting into a more business-minded salon my client booked quickly and once I went out on my own completely that continued to grow.  

[maxpete]

Love hearing that when you bet on yourself, it paid off!

[wanda33]

Thank you 

[wanda33]

Thankfully for me I didn't have to worry about location because I go to other clients houses so that wasn't an issue.

[vinesandrushes]

In the wine and food world, you're continuously growing the customer base and if you aren't, the business is probably retracting.

[wanda33]

Yes that is the truth. The food business is a tricky business to get in anyway. It's either going to make it or not.

[GourmetOnWheels]

In my mobile food business it took me 8 months to really get of the ground and after it has been a grind to keep finding new customers. But I still find them through word of mouth.

René

[maxpete]

Word of mouth tends to be a great consistent source of customers. Curious to hear if you're exploring new ways to attract customers this year?

[GourmetOnWheels]

 @maxpete I am offering the lapsed customers a gift card value of 40.00, and I am offering cooking lessons at their home 

René

[doc_choc]

@tranguyen depends on the nature of the business, however for our business its a continual, ongoing process to build and there is the natural loss, but always aiming for a net gain. Using the typical marketing mix Social Media, influencers, local radio if you can get on a slot, local publications who want to do a feature on you etc. Promotional discounts via your existing customers to refer new customers to your business is a nice one, Square Marketing has all the tools to help you achieve this. The process will never end, just keep chipping away at it and you will keep finding new innovate ways to build the following.

[maxpete]

One thing you touched on here that is super important is the mindset of always learning, always evolving. You're spot on that this process isn't ever completed (well until you don't have a business anymore) so it's always great to keep testing the waters!

[DinaLRosenberg]

It took us about 2 years- but we had Covid in the middle which actually was critical to our success and building our customer base. 

We opened in November of 2018. We immediately, at opening, began posting on social media. About a year in we hired our customer to take photos for instagram. At that time having a cohesive page was in style (it's amazing how things change).

Winter of 2019 we launched our e-commerce site via square. We had no idea how important that site was going to become.

Obviously March 2020 we closed the physical store through June of 2020. Those three months we decided to go live every single night on Instagram. We did it out of necessity to maintain the connection with our customers. Who know those 3 months would have grown a customer base that we still have to this day.

If you are B to C I cannot stress how important social media is. It's where your customers are and it's FREE!