How long did it take you to get your first sale?

[Empires]

I quit my job in January of 2016, and on June 6th, 2017 I got my first sale.

It took me a year and a half of trying and failing, and 3 different businesses, to get my first sale.

But on my 4th business, it only took 1 day. Turns out it's a lot easier to sell when you sell something that people actually need.

Some of the things I've learned..

• Sell something people actually need, not something that you think they need.

• Don't spend money just because you have it. Bootstrap as much as possible. You are new to this, you will make mistakes. Just a matter of how expensive those mistakes will be.

• Learn as you go, solve the problems as they arise. Don't try to prepare for step 12 before you've accomplished step 1.

And this is still only the beginning. So for those of you in a rush, slow down, and buckle up. It's going to be a long ride.

When was your break through, how long did it take you to get your first sale?

 

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[kytro360]

I got my first ever "dollar" through GPT sites. You basically had to fill out a bunch of annoying surveys to make a dollar or two lol. Wouldn't recommend it. Definitely not "fastlane" at all. After that I got into Adsense, and then I moved into affiliate marketing.

 

[Vilox]

Approximately two weeks worth of cold calls.

Here's a general piece of advice regarding sales:

Make a friend, make a sale

Instead of going for the quick buck, focus on building a relationship. In today's world there are countless vendors for whatever you're selling. It's silly to compete on price. Even if you can, don't do it. Offering the cheapest solution usually comes with trade-offs regarding features or support. Further, people who always go for the cheapest thing available are a pain in the a$$ to deal with. Instead, focus on providing outstanding service in addition to having an awesome product. Don't just focus on the immediate sale, see the lifetime value of every customer you're dealing with. If people are satisfied, they'll come again. They might even tell their friends.

 

[fxmm]

@Empires

well done sir! persistence and learning.

here's to more sales for you!

I quit my job in January of 2016, and on June 6th, 2017 I got my first sale.

It took me a year and a half of trying and failing, and 3 different businesses, to get my first sale.

But on my 4th business, it only took 1 day. Turns out it's a lot easier to sell when you sell something that people actually need.

Some of the things I've learned..

• Sell something people actually need, not something that you think they need.

• Don't spend money just because you have it. Bootstrap as much as possible. You are new to this, you will make mistakes. Just a matter of how expensive those mistakes will be.

• Learn as you go, solve the problems as they arise. Don't try to prepare for step 12 before you've accomplished step 1.

And this is still only the beginning. So for those of you in a rush, slow down, and buckle up. It's going to be a long ride.

When was your break through, how long did it take you to get your first sale?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Empires]

Approximately two weeks worth of cold calls.

Here's a general piece of advice regarding sales:

Make a friend, make a sale

Instead of going for the quick buck, focus on building a relationship. In today's world there are countless vendors for whatever you're selling. It's silly to compete on price. Even if you can, don't do it. Offering the cheapest solution usually comes with trade-offs regarding features or support. Further, people who always go for the cheapest thing available are a pain in the a$$ to deal with. Instead, focus on providing outstanding service in addition to having an awesome product. Don't just focus on the immediate sale, see the lifetime value of every customer you're dealing with. If people are satisfied, they'll come again. They might even tell their friends.

Absolutely, don't compete on price. Instead, compete on benefits. Be better.

Creates a system where rather than pushing for sales, sales come to you.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

I quit my job in January of 2016, and on June 6th, 2017 I got my first sale.

It took me a year and a half of trying and failing, and 3 different businesses, to get my first sale.

But on my 4th business, it only took 1 day. Turns out it's a lot easier to sell when you sell something that people actually need.

Some of the things I've learned..

• Sell something people actually need, not something that you think they need.

• Don't spend money just because you have it. Bootstrap as much as possible. You are new to this, you will make mistakes. Just a matter of how expensive those mistakes will be.

• Learn as you go, solve the problems as they arise. Don't try to prepare for step 12 before you've accomplished step 1.

And this is still only the beginning. So for those of you in a rush, slow down, and buckle up. It's going to be a long ride.

When was your break through, how long did it take you to get your first sale?

The biggest lesson you're leaving out:

Know when to QUIT.

Almost all business advice says perseverance, bla bla bla... but if your product does not fit the market, then quit. You need to be providing value at a price where the customer will buy.

Some sales have a short sales cycle. Some have a long sales cycle. Figure out how long it should take to get the sale. If it's taking a lot longer, and the market is telling you it doesn't want your product, then move on.

As for bootstrapping: never spend money when you don't have to. But sometimes, it's necessary to spend. Some businesses take $500 to launch. Some $1,000,000 to launch. If you try to launch a $1MM idea using $500, you'll fail. Even if you try with $500 a million times, you'll fail every time. Know how much money you need to spend to figure out if there's a product market fit. Never spend more than you have to, but spend what's necessary.

 

[JCQ]

The biggest lesson you're leaving out:

Know when to QUIT.

Almost all business advice says perseverance, bla bla bla... but if your product does not fit the market, then quit. You need to be providing value at a price where the customer will buy.

Some sales have a short sales cycle. Some have a long sales cycle. Figure out how long it should take to get the sale. If it's taking a lot longer, and the market is telling you it doesn't want your product, then move on.

As for bootstrapping: never spend money when you don't have to. But sometimes, it's necessary to spend. Some businesses take $500 to launch. Some $1,000,000 to launch. If you try to launch a $1MM idea using $500, you'll fail. Even if you try with $500 a million times, you'll fail every time. Know how much money you need to spend to figure out if there's a product market fit. Never spend more than you have to, but spend what's necessary.

That's very good advice about knowing when to quit and move on. I would make one caveat though. I think a person should try there best to have another idea, venture, gig, something in mind at least so they don't quit and just sit there sad or depressed doing nothing. For example I created a membership site and the market said no. So now I am looking into other things.

 

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[Empires]

The biggest lesson you're leaving out:

Know when to QUIT.

Almost all business advice says perseverance, bla bla bla... but if your product does not fit the market, then quit. You need to be providing value at a price where the customer will buy.

Some sales have a short sales cycle. Some have a long sales cycle. Figure out how long it should take to get the sale. If it's taking a lot longer, and the market is telling you it doesn't want your product, then move on.

As for bootstrapping: never spend money when you don't have to. But sometimes, it's necessary to spend. Some businesses take $500 to launch. Some $1,000,000 to launch. If you try to launch a $1MM idea using $500, you'll fail. Even if you try with $500 a million times, you'll fail every time. Know how much money you need to spend to figure out if there's a product market fit. Never spend more than you have to, but spend what's necessary.

Good points.

In the beginning it's all about finding product market fit. Follow the feedback to find it. No feedback is also feedback. If you go a long period of time with no results, no feedback, nothing, then it's time to make changes or move on.

Bootstrap as much as possible, like you said, never spend money when you don't have to. When you have money to put into a business it can be easy to spend more than necessary. When you start spending a few thousand on a website, contracts, etc, it adds up quickly. Sometimes thats necessary, but you need to find out if there is a market before spending all that money. Validate the market first.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Good points.

In the beginning it's all about finding product market fit. Follow the feedback to find it. No feedback is also feedback. If you go a long period of time with no results, no feedback, nothing, then it's time to make changes or move on.

Bootstrap as much as possible, like you said, never spend money when you don't have to. When you have money to put into a business it can be easy to spend more than necessary. When you start spending a few thousand on a website, contracts, etc, it adds up quickly. Sometimes thats necessary, but you need to find out if there is a market before spending all that money. Validate the market first.

One big point I left out: get a mentor.

A mentor will tell you if your product offering is a failure, or if you're the failure. You need to know how to differentiate the two. A mentor is the easiest way to do that. Because if you're doing something wrong and can change, then great, change. But if the product is not being accepted, then no matter what changes you make to yourself, you won't succeed.

If you can't get a mentor then start a progress thread here and ask for outside feedback (and only take feedback from those that are qualified to give feedback).

 

[Empires]

One big point I left out: get a mentor.

A mentor will tell you if your product offering is a failure, or if you're the failure. You need to know how to differentiate the two. A mentor is the easiest way to do that. Because if you're doing something wrong and can change, then great, change. But if the product is not being accepted, then no matter what changes you make to yourself, you won't succeed.

If you can't get a mentor then start a progress thread here and ask for outside feedback (and only take feedback from those that are qualified to give feedback).

Never had a mentor, always just learned as I went. I imagine that would have sped up the process though. My last businesses I consider the products a failure, but if this business fails I would consider it my own fault.

I'll start a progress thread here soon.

 

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[broswoodwork]

I Started my first business when I was 22; didn't make my first real sale (repeatable working process) until I was 34, under my 6th business.

I recommend trying to sell whatever it is you're selling, and actually getting a sale, before you've even bought/built it. That way you're not wasting money on things people won't buy.

That's how I knew what I'm doing now would be worth any actual investment of time/money.

 

[Andy Black]

Dan Norris has a great wee book called "The 7 Day Startup".

In it he introduces a kinda litmus test that you should be able to launch in 7 days.

He also introduced me to the idea of "Product-Founder Fit". If it's your first rodeo then what you can launch in 7 days will be vastly different from what you can launch in 7 days after you've been in business for 10 years.

Need $10k to launch but can't get it in 7 days? Maybe do something that doesn't need $10k then?

I quite like replacing "launch" with "make a sale".

What can you do to make a sale in the next 7 days?

(A good question to ask yourself each week btw.)

...

To answer the question of the thread title - I left my day job in IT after I had already landed a freelance IT contract.

10 years later I fell into my current business when I helped someone for free. (Even signing someone up for free is a sale in a way.)

Probably the first paid client was within a couple of months and happened soon after I decided to get someone. It probably took a week of chatting to different people about my sole case study before someone bit. The €50/mth offer probably helped...

 

[Empires]

I Started my first business when I was 22; didn't make my first real sale (repeatable working process) until I was 34, under my 6th business.

I recommend trying to sell whatever it is you're selling, and actually getting a sale, before you've even bought/built it. That way you're not wasting money on things people won't buy.

That's how I knew what I'm doing now would be worth any actual investment of time/money.

Definitely agree. Always want to validate the market before jumping in, be it presales or another method.

 

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[Empires]

Dan Norris has a great wee book called "The 7 Day Startup".

In it he introduces a kinda litmus test that you should be able to launch in 7 days.

He also introduced me to the idea of "Product-Founder Fit". If it's your first rodeo then what you can launch in 7 days will be vastly different from what you can launch in 7 days after you've been in business for 10 years.

Need $10k to launch but can't get it in 7 days? Maybe do something that doesn't need $10k then?

I quite like replacing "launch" with "make a sale".

What can you do to make a sale in the next 7 days?

(A good question to ask yourself each week btw.)

...

To answer the question of the thread title - I left my day job in IT after I had already landed a freelance IT contract.

10 years later I fell into my current business when I helped someone for free. (Even signing someone up for free is a sale in a way.)

Probably the first paid client was within a couple of months and happened soon after I decided to get someone. It probably took a week of chatting to different people about my sole case study before someone bit. The €50/mth offer probably helped...

Great book, and great concept.

Interesting seeing how differently things play out for everybody.

I quit my job way prematurely, I hit a tipping point (FTE) and had enough. While I had a few years savings before quitting, I definitely don't recommend it. But I don't regret it. I would do it again.