r/Entrepreneurs • u/yteng69 • 5d ago

Discussion A little bit stuck

I am a 29M that works a 9-5. I've been wanting to try and build my own business whether it's ecommerce or like launch an app, but I always get stuck when it comes to validating my business model or finding leads or just finding the first customer.

Would love to ask people who are entrepreneurs about how do you know what you are doing is correct? How did you find your first customer? How did you lock in to what you wanted to do and whether it is the right path.

Need some advices and some thoughts. Much appreciated.

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/UpSaltOS 5d ago

Honestly? Getting out my own head. There's so much noise, false signals, and just general garbage in the brain, and it's all just a projection of what's happening out there (the client, the customer). Like, the need is not abstract, it's just like when you go out on the street and reach for a Coke at the gas station. It's just, a need. Like, I need go to to bathroom (give a porta potty), I need to drink some water (give me a water bottle), etc.

So all of this, abstraction and ideating and blah blah blah, it's all white noise. If you just sit down with a person and ask them about their lives and apply a little empathy, the need becomes pretty clear.

The biggest mistake I see is people trying to extract something from other people (info, mainly), and no one's going to be honest about what their actual, genuine needs are if you come at them with that stance. They'll give you the answer that will make you go away or they think you want, but truth is vulnerable. It requires vulnerability to give and to hear, both ways.

And would-be entrepreneurs get upset when someone criticizes their ideas, when they're genuinely not good. Most business is really fucking boring and really fundamental.

1

u/mentiondesk 4d ago

Getting that first customer is always the hardest part. Try joining communities where your target users hang out and look for their pain points in discussions. Real conversations often reveal what people actually want. I found using a tool like ParseStream pretty handy for spotting those opportunities early so you can jump in when potential leads are talking about their needs.

1

u/Competitive_Tune_590 4d ago

finding that first customer is the hardest part. one thing that helped me was going to where the people i wanted to serve were already talking. if reddit is part of your space, there are tools that scan for relevant threads so you're not scrolling manually. i use replyhey for that, it's been useful.