Share0
Tweet0
Share0
Share0
Tweet0
Share0

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!

    • 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 🙂

      Reply

      • 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

        Reply

  • 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?

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  • For others who may value encouragement…

    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.’

    Who?

    Reply

  • 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.

    Reply

    • OP here… Technically from 0 – 1 is infinite but I completely understand what you’re saying. Thanks for the kind words 🙂

      Reply

  • 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.

    Reply
    • {"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

    You may also like

    >