Starting a business often feels exciting until you reach the question every founder eventually has to answer: where are the customers?
You can have a great product, a beautiful website, an impressive Instagram profile, and a carefully designed brand, but none of that matters if people are not willing to pay for what you offer. Finding your first 10 paying customers is less about having a huge audience and more about finding the right people, starting conversations, understanding their problems, and giving them a reason to trust your solution.
Your first 10 paying customers are not just revenue. They help you understand whether your offer actually works in the real world. Paul Graham’s classic Y Combinator essay, Do Things That Don’t Scale, makes a similar case: founders can’t wait for users to come to them, especially at the start — they have to go out and recruit the first ones by hand.
Start With People Who Actually Have the Problem
Before looking for customers, get specific about who you are trying to help. Ask yourself:
- Who experiences the problem I solve?
- How often do they experience it?
- How are they currently solving it?
- What does the problem cost them in time, money, stress, or missed opportunities?
- Why would they pay for a better solution?
The more clearly you understand the problem, the easier it becomes to identify potential customers. Instead of saying, “My product is for women,” for example, you might discover that your ideal customer is a woman running a small service business who struggles to consistently create marketing content. That level of specificity gives you somewhere to start.
Don’t Wait for Your First 10 Paying Customers to Find You
One of the most common mistakes new founders make is waiting for customers to find them. They launch a website, publish a few social media posts, and hope someone makes a purchase.
Early on, you may need to be much more proactive. Reach out to people who fit your target customer profile. Start conversations, ask questions, and learn about their challenges. Introduce your product or service when there is a genuine connection between what they need and what you offer. In practice, your first 10 paying customers are more likely to come from conversations than from viral content.
Start With Your Existing Network
Your first customers do not necessarily need to be strangers. Think about people you already know professionally or personally who might genuinely benefit from your offer. That could include former colleagues, industry contacts, LinkedIn connections, community members, previous clients, or people you have met through events.
The goal is not to send everyone a generic sales message. Instead, identify people who have a genuine connection to the problem you are solving. For instance, a personal message can be much more effective than a mass pitch:
“I’ve recently started helping small business owners create a simpler content system. I remember you mentioning that content was taking up a lot of your time. I’d love to hear how you’re handling it now.”
That starts a conversation rather than immediately demanding a sale.
Talk to Potential Customers Before Perfecting the Product
You do not need to have everything figured out before speaking to potential customers. In fact, conversations can help you improve the offer.
Ask potential customers what they currently do, what frustrates them, what they have already tried, and what they would consider a useful solution. Pay close attention to the words they use. If multiple people describe the same problem in similar language, that information can help you improve your website, marketing content, sales pitch, and product. Your customers can tell you things your assumptions cannot.
Make Your Offer Simple
When you are trying to find your first 10 paying customers, avoid creating an unnecessarily complicated offer. A simple offer is easier to explain and easier for a potential customer to understand. Make it clear:
- What do they get?
- Who is it for?
- What problem does it solve?
- How much does it cost?
- What happens after they purchase?
If someone needs a five-minute explanation before they understand what you sell, your offer may need more clarity.
Don’t Be Afraid to Sell
There is a difference between being helpful and avoiding sales. Many founders are comfortable creating content, answering questions, and networking, but become uncomfortable when it is time to ask someone to buy.
At some point, you have to make the offer. Tell people what you do, explain who it is for, and show them how it can help. Then give them a clear next step. Selling does not have to feel aggressive — if your product genuinely solves a problem, offering it is part of serving the customer.
Use LinkedIn to Start Conversations
For B2B businesses and professional services, LinkedIn can be particularly useful for reaching potential customers. You do not need thousands of followers.
Start by identifying people who match your ideal customer profile. Then engage with their content thoughtfully, share useful insights of your own, and join relevant conversations. Once there is a genuine reason to connect, send a personalised message rather than immediately sending a long sales pitch. Build context first — a potential customer is much more likely to respond when your message demonstrates that you understand their situation.
Ask for Introductions
Your network can also help you reach people you do not know. If someone understands your offer and believes it could help another person, ask whether they would be comfortable making an introduction. This is different from asking everyone to “share my business” — be specific instead. You might say:
“I’m looking to work with three more founders who are struggling with their content strategy. If someone comes to mind, would you be comfortable introducing us?”
Specific requests are easier to act on.
Give Early Customers a Reason to Trust You
If you do not have many testimonials yet, trust can feel like a challenge. You can build credibility in other ways: share useful knowledge, demonstrate your expertise, show your process, and publish customer-focused content. Explain how your product works, and share relevant examples or case studies when you have them.
Once your first 10 paying customers have experienced your product, ask for feedback and testimonials. Those early experiences can become valuable social proof for the next group of customers.
Don’t Automatically Discount Your Offer
Offering a discount can sometimes help you attract early customers, but it should not become your default strategy. If you constantly reduce your price because you are uncomfortable asking people to pay, you may attract customers who are primarily interested in the discount rather than the value.
Instead, consider creating a clear introductory offer or limited pilot if you genuinely need to test your product. The purpose should be learning and validation, not permanently teaching customers that your normal price is negotiable.
Track Every Conversation
Finding your first 10 paying customers becomes much easier when you know what is happening. Create a simple spreadsheet or customer-tracking system. Record:
- Who you contacted
- When you contacted them
- Their response
- Their problem or need
- Whether they showed interest
- Whether you followed up
- Whether they purchased
- Why they did not purchase
Over time, you may start noticing patterns. Perhaps people love the product but do not understand the offer. Maybe your pricing is unclear, or you’re talking to the wrong audience. Maybe people simply need more trust before buying. These insights can help you improve your sales process.
Follow Up Without Feeling Pushy
One message is rarely enough. People are busy — they may have seen your message and forgotten to respond, intended to reply later, or simply needed more information.
A thoughtful follow-up can reopen the conversation. Instead of saying, “Just following up,” add something useful. For example:
“I wanted to circle back because I recently came across another example of the problem we discussed. I thought it might be useful for you.”
Make the follow-up relevant rather than repetitive.
Learn From Your First 10 Paying Customers
Your first 10 paying customers are more than a milestone. They are a learning opportunity. Ask them why they chose you:
- What almost stopped them from buying?
- What did they like?
- What confused them?
- What would they change?
- What result were they hoping to achieve?
The answers can help you improve the product and make it easier to sell to customers 11 through 100.
