I had 20+ sales calls. $0 in clients. Looking back, I wasn't unlucky. I was making some pretty obvious mistakes. Here are the 3 biggest ones: Quick disclaimer: I’m a 16-year-old startup founder, not an authority. This is just what I did wrong—hopefully, it can help you avoid the same mistakes. 1. I wasn't willing to work for free. I had heard Alex Hormozi talk about this advice over and over: "Work for free. Get results. Use those results to get clients." I understood the idea. But I didn't actually do it. I kept telling myself I needed to improve my offer first. I needed to get better at the service. I needed to feel more confident. So I spent weeks thinking about it instead of actually doing it. And here's what I eventually realized: You don't build confidence before you get proof. You build confidence by getting proof that you are the person you say you are. The first few clients simply aren't about making money. They're about learning. Getting results. Getting testimonials. Building case studies. And proving to yourself that your offer actually works (because the most important person that you have to sell is yourself) I was trying to sell something I hadn't proven yet. 2. I focused on everything except the main leverage point. I spent hours watching videos about: "How to cold call." "How to write the perfect script." "How to get better leads." "How to close more sales." I spent hundreds of dollars on new leads. I'd make a new plan. Then I'd make another plan. Then I'd change the offer. Then I'd change the niche. Then I'd find another strategy. I was doing so much but at the same time so little. The problem wasn't that I needed another 10 hours of YouTube videos about cold calling. I needed to get on the phone and actually make the calls. I needed to talk to prospects. I needed to hear their objections. I needed to figure out why they weren't buying. I was optimizing everything around the problem instead of attacking the problem itself. 3. I kept changing instead of staying consistent long enough to learn.

Hi everyone! My name is Oliver, and I'm currently building a business. I'm looking for someone who can design and build a professional-looking front-end website. I want to be upfront: I don't have the budget to pay right now. I know there are a lot of talented startup web designers and UI/UX designers who are looking for opportunities to build their portfolio and land their first clients. In return, I'd be happy to record a genuine video testimonial about working with you, which you can use on your website, portfolio, or social media. I know how valuable strong testimonials can be when you're trying to attract new clients. Of course, I'm looking for someone who can deliver a high-quality website. I want this to be something we're both proud of, and a great result will make for a much stronger testimonial. This project is front-end only—I'll handle all of the back-end development myself. If you're interested or would like to see what the business is about, feel free to reply to this post or send me a message. I'd love to chat!