Your first 10 customers

Do things that don't scale

Early on, you don't need a system. You need 10 people who use your SaaS and talk to you. To get there, you'll do things by hand. It's slow, and that's normal.

Where to find them

Your personal network

Start with people you already know. Not to sell to them, but to ask: "Do you know anyone who deals with this problem?" A warm intro is worth a lot of cold messages.

Communities in your niche

Groups, forums, chat servers: your audience hangs out somewhere. Join to help first. Answer questions, share what you know. Read the rules: many ban self-promotion. Respect that.

Direct messages

Reach out to specific people who have the problem. A good message:

• is short (5 lines max);
• is personal (it shows you read their profile or post);
• asks for their opinion, not a purchase;
• makes it easy to say no.

Example: "Hi Julie, I saw your post about chasing unpaid invoices. I'm building a small tool for that. Would you be open to a 10-minute chat about how you handle it today? No worries if now's not a good time."