The First Ten Customers: A Script for Kids Who Hate Asking

Write down ten real names. Not neighbors, names. Some kids think this is cheating, like a real business would start with strangers. It would not. Almost every business on earth started with people who already knew the founder.

Three parts, in this order. What you do. What it costs. When you could do it.

I clean out cars. Twenty five dollars, inside and out. I could do yours Saturday morning.

That is the whole thing. No explaining why you started, no apologizing for your age, no asking if they think it is a good idea. Say it, then stop talking. The silence after is uncomfortable for about two seconds and then they answer.

The price is the part most kids get wrong, and they almost always go too low. Work out what the job is actually worth before you knock on anything.

This sounds backwards and it is the most useful trick here. End with something that gives them an exit. Want me to put you down for Saturday, or is this not your thing?

People say yes more when refusing is comfortable, because they are not braced for a fight. You are not trying to trap anyone. You are trying to find the people who actually want it.

Say thanks and ask one question: do you know anybody who might want it? A no often turns into a name, and a name from someone they know is worth more than a stranger.

Then keep count of no answers on purpose. Ten no answers is not ten failures, it is data telling you the offer or the price needs a change. A kid who gets zero no answers has not asked enough people.

After you finish a job and the person is happy, right then, ask this: do you know one other person who might want this?

Right then matters. They are looking at a clean car or an empty bin and they are pleased with you. That is the moment the answer is yes. A week later it is a text they mean to reply to.

One referral request per happy customer, every single time, is how a business goes from three customers to ten without any advertising at all.

The easiest sale you will ever make is the second one to somebody who already paid you once. They know you show up. You know what they want. Nobody has to be convinced of anything.

Chasing new customers feels like progress, but ten people who use you every month beats fifty who used you once. It is also a lot less work, which matters when you have homework.

Some businesses are built for this. Taking bins out repeats every week without anyone asking. Lawn mowing regrows whether anyone feels like it or not. Car detailing and bin cleaning both work as standing arrangements.

1. Write down ten real names. People who know you. Do this before anything else.
2. Decide your price first, using the pricing method, so the sentence has a real number in it.
3. Write your three part sentence out and say it aloud five times. What you do, what it costs, when you could do it.
4. Practice the exit line: or is this not your thing?
5. Ask all ten. Keep a tally of yes and no. Zero no answers means you have not asked enough people.
6. After every no, ask the one question: do you know anybody who might want it?
7. After every finished job, while they are happy, ask for one referral. Every time.
8. Before chasing anyone new, go back to the people who already paid you once.