Startups Anonymous Est. 2013 · Read-only archive
Stories

The first customer!

I’ve been working for close to 2 years on my e-commerce startup (while also being Mr. Mum) and last week made my first sale to someone not personally connected to me (friend, family etc.)

It was such a great feeling (and a bit of a relief) to see all the work and processes come together as I’ve intended them to.

Also felt great to be able to tell my wife, who is supporting myself and our 2 kids while I chase this goal of mine. To give her some proof that the effort she is putting in and her faith in me will be repaid (though still a long way to go) was unbelievable. I know it’s the quickest way for us to reach any sort of financial freedom in our lives, but I do feel like I’m being selfish at times because I know she’d much rather be the one at home with the kids.

The whole thing put me on such a high and has made me even more determined to make this as successful as I think it can be.

It’s been a long, hard road, and there have been times I’ve thought about giving up, but so glad I haven’t.

Bring on the next sale!

11 answers from the community

AAnonymous· Sep 5, 2014

Congratulations on your first traction step but why did it take 2 years? Did you just launch the site recently?

AAnonymous· Sep 5, 2014

OP here. Thanks. Yes, site only launched a couple months back. Bootstrapping and no marketing budget as yet, so it's been social media as / when I've had time. Like I say, a long road :-)

AAnonymous· Sep 5, 2014

I know that feeling. You did what you had to do, learning as you went along.

Realize that you only just reached a local maxima and try to laugh about it if you can

AAnonymous· Sep 6, 2014

thank you for sharing this. I've been hard at work now for 14 months and it's been a total slog. we are selling next to nothing while we figure out product/market fit. knowing others have been at it a long time and persevered through is really helpful and inspiring. did you work part time during these two years?

AAnonymous· Sep 6, 2014

OP here. I did some basic web development work on the side, and all the income went straight to the startup. I also worked weekends in a customer service role until about June of this year.

Keep going. I keep telling people I meet that I woke up one day with what I think is a great idea, and thought I'd have a hundred suppliers and a thousand customers a week after launch - that everyone else would love my idea as well. It obviously hasn't (and doesn't ) happened that way and that's OK. The hard part is keeping that belief in it yourself and pushing through when $$$ is tight and the wife is complaining that the cupboards are bare and bills are going unpaid...

Stick with it. Good luck.

AAnonymous· Sep 6, 2014

This is great! I can't wait to make my first customers! :) I'm psyched!

AAnonymous· Sep 6, 2014

For others who may value encouragement...

<blockquote>
Amazon started modestly... so small that every time someone made a purchase 'a bell would ring on Amazon’s computers, and everyone in the office would gather around to see if anyone knew the customer'.

Bezos: ...we had no real organization... were packing on our hands and knees on a hard concrete floor. I remember, just to show you how stupid I can be, I had this brainstorm... and said 'You know what we need? We need knee pads!' I was very serious, and this person looked at me like I was the stupidest person they'd ever seen.... 'What we need is packing tables.'
</blockquote>

<a href="http://glvr.com" rel="nofollow">Who?</a>

AAnonymous· Sep 6, 2014

Congratulations!

AAnonymous· Sep 8, 2014

From 0 to 1 is 100% growth.

From 1 to 2 is 100% growth

From 2 to 3 is only 50% growth

When you have the 1,000,000 th customer, you will appreciate the day of 100% growth.

Keep on the good work.

AAnonymous· Sep 8, 2014

OP here... Technically from 0 - 1 is infinite but I completely understand what you're saying. Thanks for the kind words :-)

AAnonymous· Sep 10, 2014

Congrats! We found ourselves in a similar situation with wife/startup, and have finally had some big movement. It is an incredible feeling. Savor the little moments.