Make My First Sale

This project guide helps two Sky’s the Limit members work together through four meetings as they collaborate to launch a business.

Meeting 1: Identify your goals, motivations, and resources

Before this meeting:

• Make sure that you’ve had an intro meeting. If you need help navigating your first meeting, visit this Guide to Your First Meeting.

• Review: Understand Your Reasons For Starting A Business

In this meeting:

• Set clear expectations and discuss the details of your commitment, we recommend using this Guide to Your First Session before kicking off this project.

• Next, you should complete the Understanding Your Why Template. Make your own copy to fill in during this meeting.

After this meeting:

• Note any agreed-upon next steps.

Meeting 2: Identify your customers

Before this meeting:

• Review: Customer Segmentation

In this meeting:

• Use the Customer Deepdive guide to help you identify your customers. Think through how your product or service works to solve a problem in their lives. 

• Look for three different groups of customers that use your product or service. It may be helpful to think of three existing customers you have

After this meeting:

• Sleep on it! See if you’ve missed anything or if there’s anything you’d like to add.

• Note any agreed-upon next steps.

Meeting 3: Test your idea with customers

Before this meeting:

• Review the following:

  • Lean Startup Methodology

  • How to Improve a Product or How to Improve a Service

In this meeting:

• Complete the Testing Your Idea Tool

  • Make your own copy to fill in during this meeting

After this meeting:

• Sleep on it! See if you’ve missed anything or if there’s anything you’d like to add.

• Note any agreed-upon next steps.

Meeting 4: Make your first sale

Before this meeting:

• Review the following:

  • 16 Ways to Sell

In this meeting:

• Identify three sales channels to try

After this meeting:

• Try selling your product or service through the channels you’ve identified. If those don’t work, try 3 more!

• Try to follow up with any potential customers who don’t buy your product or service to find out why they didn’t buy, and what would make them purchase. 

• Improve your product or service as needed until you make a sale.

• Be sure to mark your project complete, update your business tracker, and start a new project!

Want to talk to someone who can help?

Sky’s the Limit members are connected to a community of volunteer business mentors, more free tools and guides like this one, and exclusive funding opportunities.