700+ Reviews [Verified]
Canada Small Business Startups and Funding Canada Small Business Startups and Funding
  • Home
  • Assessment Tool
    • Funding Calculator Tool
  • Startup Portal
    • Startup Portal
    • Startup Guide and Timeline
    • Business Plan Builder
    • Funding Database
    • Investor PitchDeck
    • The Extra Services
    • Get Access Now!
  • Resources
    • Business Advice
    • Business Planning
    • Funding & Financing
    • Tools & Resources
    • Q&A’s
    • Walkthough
    • Centres
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Manitoba
      • New Brunswick
      • Newfoundland
      • Northwest Territories
      • Nova Scotia
      • Nunavut
      • Ontario
      • PEI
      • Quebec
      • Saskatchewan
      • Yukon
  • Membership
  • Get Access 🔑
  • Home
  • Assessment Tool
    • Funding Calculator Tool
  • Startup Portal
    • Startup Portal
    • Startup Guide and Timeline
    • Business Plan Builder
    • Funding Database
    • Investor PitchDeck
    • The Extra Services
    • Get Access Now!
  • Resources
    • Business Advice
    • Business Planning
    • Funding & Financing
    • Tools & Resources
    • Q&A’s
    • Walkthough
    • Centres
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Manitoba
      • New Brunswick
      • Newfoundland
      • Northwest Territories
      • Nova Scotia
      • Nunavut
      • Ontario
      • PEI
      • Quebec
      • Saskatchewan
      • Yukon
  • Membership
  • Get Access 🔑
Register Login

Join the Startup Portal

  • Home
  • Business Planning
  • How To Get Early Traction For Your New Startup

How To Get Early Traction For Your New Startup




486

SHARES

Written by David Loretta

Category: Business Planning

Tags: business startup, early traction, new startup

Recommended Next: 7 Simple Side Hustle Small Business Ideas for 2022

How to Get Early Traction For Your New Startup Business

At some point, every entrepreneur will ask, “How do I grow my new startup?” The idea of growing your customer base almost out of thin air can seem pretty frightening when you’re just starting your small business, and it certainly can be. Especially since building traction early in your startup can mean the difference between success and failure.

Having traction early in the life of your business is a good sign that you have a product or service that people want. It also acts as insurance for VCs and their investment. Generally speaking, small business investors are looking for companies that will give them a return on investment. You will be providing a stronger guarantee that an investment will be very worthwhile by showing the potential investor that your startup has some customer traction.

The good news is, to get some early startup traction, you don’t need to use a lot of money.

    Request More Information

    Need funding for your small business?

    Learn how you can get funding for your small business in Canada. It takes 30 seconds.

    Request More Information

    Quick Search Guide hide
    1 What is Early Startup Traction?
    2 Challenges in Gaining Customer Traction
    2.1 WANT TO LEARN MORE?
    2.2 Listening to the wants and needs of customers
    2.3 Building trust
    2.4 Spreading the word and gaining exposure
    3 Factors To Get Early Traction
    4 How To Build Traction for Your Startup
    4.1 Create and test engaging content on social media
    4.2 Go to where your customers are
    4.3 Existing customer feedback
    4.4 Focus on referrals and customer retention

    What is Early Startup Traction?

    Your business’s first wave of customers is early traction. These early adopters are absolutely vital to your business.

    This is because they have chosen to give you some of their precious time and money even though they have never heard about your before. That means that with your product or service, they saw a solution to their problem, which to them is valuable.

    Also, these people will more than likely bring their family and friends along to try you out, so they end up becoming your company’s first ambassadors.

    Challenges in Gaining Customer Traction

    Particularly during the early days of your business operations, gaining traction will often be easier said than done. When trying to earn a steady stream of sales, many small businesses will face these common challenges:

    WANT TO LEARN MORE?

    7 Steps to Starting a Small Business

    Listening to the wants and needs of customers

    You will need to understand your target customer’s motivations, goals, and struggles, simply identifying who they are is not enough. Many business owners assume that simply knowing who their customers are is enough, to be successful you should challenge these assumptions and check in with your existing and potential customers.

    A common pitfall that most small businesses fall into is building a service or product to search for an audience, this is backwards. The delivery and communication to your target market’s needs will allow you to bring your product and service to show that you are the solution.

    Building trust

    People need to trust you if you want them to buy from you. However, an authentic and lasting trust can’t be built with only a 30-second commercial or a Facebook ad.

    Trust will come from demonstrating how your product will improve the lives of your customers or referral sources. and from spending time with them.

    Spreading the word and gaining exposure

    While many small business owners will highlight the value of word-of-mouth, you will need to get the word out before you can build traction from outside referrals.

    Customers can’t buy from you if they don’t know about it, no matter how innovative your product or service is.

    New startups will need to make the most of their limited resources to market their product or service successfully.

    Factors To Get Early Traction

    In today’s world, everyone wants to be a billionaire, but little to none of them will give any deep thought to what could earn them the first wave of qualitative users.

    Yes, it’s about quality over quantity.

    Let’s say, for example, you built a social media tool to be used to provide automation for non-professionals. It’s only natural that the best factors of your product are built exactly for the non-professional social media user demographic. Trying to acquire social media managers as a customer won’t work because it’s safe to assume that these people are looking for something that is far more sophisticated a solution than what your software is offering.

    So what main factors can you use to get your first wave of customers?

    1. Your product has to solve a problem that a specific set of people are facing. For example, Airbnb will find you a nice and cheap place to stay and Uber saves you time.
    2. You have an amazing story that people can relate to and an amazing branding strategy. A “story” doesn’t have to be a fairytale or anything. But it’s more to do with how you present yourself and the words that you are using.
    3. You have a great user experience. How many times have you deleted an app because it was too complex? Even if your app gave users a six-pack instantly, nobody will use it again if it was too hard for them to use and take any action.
    4. You have phenomenal support. Until they need help, people like to be independent. Since business owners can be consumed by building new features to convince people to stay, amazing customer support is often overlooked. Unfortunately, there is no ultimate way to give great customer support, but you can probably start by being polite, then learn to deal with an angry customer on social media.

    How To Build Traction for Your Startup

    You should focus on these strategies to maximize traction if you are launching a new service or product.

    Create and test engaging content on social media

    A great way to build traction with customers is by developing social media content that will resonate with your audience. You should consider creating free informative content, such as videos on YouTube, these can be easily shared with your audience.

    Focus on delivering one specific message and continue to test it on social media until it gains some traction instead of creating and sharing multiple messages.

    Go to where your customers are

    If your customers aren’t hanging out on a particular platform your marketing campaign won’t gain any traction on there. Give your business the best chance of getting found by customers by figuring out how and where they like to shop to make the most of your marketing efforts.

    Existing customer feedback

    Talking to current customers can provide you with valuable feedback about your product or service in addition to potential customers. You can better understand the needs of your customers through online surveys, Zoom meetings and observations. Analyze your results and adjust your product or service accordingly as soon as you have received this feedback.

    Focus on referrals and customer retention

    The best source of advertising for your small business is a happy customer. They are more likely to recommend your business to their friends and family as well as remain loyal and buy from you again.

    If you need help to find ideas to build customer traction in the early stages of your small business, sign up for a membership and speak to our business experts

    You may also like

    • 7 Side Hustle Ideas for 2022
      7 Simple Side Hustle Small Business Ideas for 2022
      7 January, 2022
    • 39 Employment Grants in Ontario for Hiring Students, Apprentices and More
      16 September, 2021
    • 24 Small Business Grants for GTA Entrepreneurs
      30 August, 2021

    SEARCHES RELATED TO BUSINESS STARTUP

    business startup
    early traction
    new startup

    Ask Experts

    I WANT START A BUSINESS IN...

    • Alberta
    • New Brunswick
    • Quebec
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
    • Manitoba
    • British Columbia
    • Northwest Territories
    • PEI
    • Saskatchewan
    • Yukon
    • Nova Scotia
    • Nunavut
    • Ontario

    I WANT TO

    • Expansion Capital
    • Funding For Equipment
    • Business Acquisition Funding
    • Consulting Services
    • Hiring & Training Staff

    IS THERE HELP IN MY INDUSTRY?

    • Expansion Capital
    • Funding For Equipment
    • Business Acquisition Funding
    • Consulting Services
    • Hiring & Training Staff

    • Management Support Services
    • Manufacturing
    • Mining
    • Professional and IT Services
    • Transportation and Warehousing
    • Accommodation and Food Services
    • Agriculture
    • Construction
    • Culture and Recreation
    • Finance and Real Estate
    • Forestry, Hunting and Fishing
    • Health and Social Assistance

    Try the Startup Assessment now and find out what your business needs to succeed.


      Request Information Need funding for your business?
      Learn how you can get funding for your small business in Canada. It takes 30 seconds.

        Membership to the Portal

        Recommended

        How To Get the Business Funding You Need
        How Do I Get The Government Funding I Need For My Business?
        01Mar2017

        While no two businesses are the same, it’s estimated...

        Most Popular

        Small Business Startup Assessment Tool
        Using The Small Business Startup Assessment Tool
        14Jul2016
        Private Investors as a Funding Source Guide
        27Apr2020
        Government Funding Cheat Sheet
        21Feb2018
        100 Small Business Startup Tools
        11Feb2016
        social media for business
        10 Benefits of Social Media For Small Businesses
        01Sep2016

        Need more help?

        Get help from a Canada Startups expert with your small business.

          Testimonials

          Hiring grant for cleaning company
          $27,900 Government Grant To Hire Staff
          Hamilton, Ontario
          "Take advantage of the government grants for hiring and hire the staff to help. You pay into takes each year so take advantage and benefit from the funding available" - Read my story
          government funding for painting company
          $19,500 Government Funding for a Painting Company in Ontario
          Oakville, ON
          "Get your business plan done as the first step. Be sure that your plan clearly outlines your funding needs and your plan for success. Then apply for funding." - Read my story
          startup gets funding
          $17,300 Government Loan To Help Business Startup
          Ottawa, ON
          "Funding is available but you have to know where to look, you have to have a business plan and if you have a proven model this is your best tool to use to get you the funding." - Read my story
          construction company gets funding
          $92,300 in Government Funding for Construction Company
          Hamilton, ON
          "Well all I can say is if you need funding, look for it. Be active and proactive about it. Don't just sit on the idea that you need it but go and do it." - Read my story
          Daycare gets funding
          $24,500 Government Funding For Daycare Facility
          Edmonton, AB
          "Having knowledge in your industry is what will keep you motivated, and having expert guidance along the way doesn't hurt one bit. We benefited from government funding greatly and it's all thanks to CanadaStartups.org." - Read my story
          junk removal company
          $76,750 Government Funding For Junk Removal Company
          Saskatoon, SK
          "Your business plan is very important to the success of your business. Everyone looks at this! Be sure to have your idea on paper and to show how you will make money." - Read my story
          2018 government funding barter system business
          2018 Government Funding Success Story Interview
          Vancouver, BC
          "A business plan is the key to a successful business as well as the way to get government funding." - Read my story
          Tech Company From Toronto Ontario Gets Government Grant
          Interview with a $75,485 Government Grant Recipient
          Toronto, ON
          "Perfect your business plan as it's in my option the number one thing small businesses need in order to attract and impress a funding agency." - Read my story
          cleaning company monitoring technology
          $17,500 Small Business Loan for Toronto Startup
          Toronto, ON
          "If you have a business idea, get a business plan made, don't waste time and start your funding search sooner rather then later." - Read my story
          Cleaning Business Hamilton, Ontario Success Story
          $32,750 Government Grant Helped Me Start My Business
          Hamilton, Ontario
          "Giving up is easy. Anybody can do it. If you need funding for your business do what it takes to get it. Banks can say no, but the government can be an option. It was for us" - Read my story
          Earth Friendly Soap Business Story
          Oakville, ON Small Business Starts Up With $76,300 Government Grant
          Oakville, ON
          "Just focus on what you are good at, don't waste your time researching, get help from experts who have already done the work, such as CanadaStartups" - Read my story
          government grant
          Interview with a $138,000 Government Grant Recipient from Milton, Ontario
          Milton, ON
          "Have a support team with you and always start with a business plan as it will be the guide for your business. A business plan will take you on the path of success" - Read my story
          Toronto Retailer Gets Government Loan
          $472,930 Low Interest Government Loan For Toronto Retailer
          Toronto, ON
          "Banks said no to due to my poor credit and business inexperience, but the government funding program had a different reaction to my well developed business plan" - Read my story
          doggy day care
          $21,315 Government Provided Loan For Doggy Day Care Business
          Oakville, ON
          "No matter your situation, if your plan is to start a small business - don't give up. Use tools and resources that are available all around you and don't be scare of a small investment" - Read my story
          Home Renovation Company Gets Funded
          $83,588 In Government Funding and Training Support For Home Reno Company
          Toronto, ON
          "Remember, funding programs have deadlines so be sure to apply on time and follow the requirements as outlined by each funding program. They act as a guide to applying successfully." - Read my story
          Toronto eCommerce Business Gets $78,932 in Government Funding Support
          Toronto eCommerce Business Gets $78,932 in Government Funding Support
          Toronto, ON
          "Don't give up. If you have an idea, go and do it. Create your business plan, go present you idea to investors/government agencies and get what you want." - Read my story
          Vancouver Software Developer Gets $12,390 in Private and Government Funding Support
          Vancouver Software Developer Gets $12,390 in Private and Government Funding Support
          Vancouver, BC
          "The first step when you are looking for funding is to make sure you have a business plan. Because if you don't, every single funding program will refuse you" - Read my story

          Latest

          7 Side Hustle Ideas for 2022
          7 Simple Side Hustle Small Business Ideas for 2022
          07Jan2022
          39 Employment Grants in Ontario for Hiring Students, Apprentices and More
          16Sep2021
          24 Small Business Grants for GTA Entrepreneurs
          30Aug2021

          Search Articles

          Categories

          • Accommodation and Food Services
          • Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
          • Alberta
          • Arts & Entertainment
          • Ask an Expert
          • Blog
          • British Columbia
          • Business Advice
          • Business Planning
          • Business Type
          • Career/Business Assistance Services
          • Centre
          • Construction/Professional Trades
          • Coronavirus
          • David's Corner
          • Education
          • Food & Beverage
          • Free Downloads
          • Funding & Financing
          • Government Funding
          • Health Care, Well Being and Social Assistance
          • industries
          • Industry
          • Infographics
          • Locations
          • Manitoba
          • Manufacturing, Mining and Energy
          • New Brunswick
          • Newfoundland and Labrador
          • News
          • Northwest Territories
          • Nova Scotia
          • Nunavut
          • Online/Internet/e-commerce
          • Ontario
          • Prince Edward Island
          • Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
          • Q&A's
          • Quebec
          • Recommended Reads
          • Recreational/Adventure Tourism
          • Retail Trade/Services
          • Saskatchewan
          • Success Stories
          • Tools & Resources
          • Uncategorized
          • Walkthough
          • Yukon

          Our Proud Partnerships

          Logo3

          1-800-288-9691(All calls are toll free)

          Contact Us

          CanadaStartups.org

          • About Canada Startups
          • Why Choose Us?
          • Customer Reviews
          • Success Stories
          • Register Now

          Business Resources

          • Startup Assessment Tool
          • Entrepreneur Test
          • Business Resources
          • Startup Portal
          • Funding Calculator Tool

          Startup Database

          • Database Walkthrough
          • Startup Guide and Timeline
          • Business Plan Builder
          • Investor PitchDeck
          • Funding Database

          Contact Us

          • Contact Us
          • FAQs
          • Members Login
          • Our Centres
          • Ontario Startups

          © 2022 - CanadaStartups.org - Helping small business owners and entrepreneurs startup. Privacy Policy. Lost? Use the Sitemap Directory to find your way around.