Your First 30 Days in Business: A Practical Action Plan

Days 1–7: Find a problem worth solving

Set aside a regular work session each day. Start by learning what customers already do when the problem appears. The suggested conversation counts are planning targets, not proof that a business will work.

1. Day 1: choose one reachable customer group, such as independent retailers that need better product photos.
2. Day 2: list 10 people who fit that description and ask for a brief conversation.
3. Days 3–5: speak with at least five people. Ask when the problem last occurred, what they did about it and what that solution cost in money or time.
4. Day 6: group the recurring complaints. Record actual examples separately from polite encouragement.
5. Day 7: write your starting idea: «I help [specific customer] solve [specific problem] with [small offer]».

• Fill in: The customer I can reach is ___.
• Fill in: A recurring problem, with a recent example, is ___.
• Fill in: Their current workaround is ___.
• Week-one output: five conversation notes and one problem to test.

Days 8–14: Build an offer you can actually deliver

Make the first offer small enough to price and deliver reliably. A fixed package, such as photographing five products within three days, is easier to assess than a broad promise to improve someone's marketing.

1. Days 8–9: specify the deliverable, exclusions, price and completion date.
2. Day 10: estimate the direct cost of one order, including materials, packaging and delivery where relevant. Track your working time separately.
3. Day 11: set a spending limit for the test. Separate setup purchases from recurring bills.
4. Day 12: make one sample that demonstrates the offer. Label demonstration work clearly.
5. Day 13: put the offer into a short page or message with one obvious way to order.
6. Day 14: ask three prospective buyers what feels unclear. Before taking paid work, check the registration, tax and permit requirements that apply to your activity and location.

• Offer: ___; customer price: ___; delivery time: ___.
• Direct cost per order: ___; hours needed: ___.
• Price minus direct costs leaves money towards overheads, taxes and your own labour. It is not your net profit.
• Test budget limit: ___. Reaching this limit triggers a review before further spending.
• Use a notebook or Google Sheets for the working record. A spreadsheet needs manual upkeep and does not replace proper bookkeeping.

Days 15–30: Test sales and review the evidence

1. Days 15–17: choose one place to reach customers, such as your existing network or personalised outreach to local businesses. Present the offer to 10 relevant prospects.
2. Days 18–21: log responses. With interested buyers, agree the scope, price, payment arrangements and delivery date in writing. Send one reasonable follow-up where appropriate.
3. Days 22–25: fulfil any orders and record actual costs and hours. Ask customers what helped and what could improve.
4. If nobody buys, ask three willing prospects what stopped them. Find out whether the issue is need, trust, timing, scope or price.
5. Days 26–28: change one element based on what you heard, then try the revised offer with suitable prospects.
6. Days 29–30: review demand, delivery effort and spending. Choose whether to continue, run a revised test or stop funding this offer.

• Sales log: date | prospect | offer | response | next action.
• Monthly count: ___ offers made; ___ replies; ___ confirmed orders; ___ paid orders.
• Cash record: payments received ___; expenses paid ___; payments still outstanding ___. Money owed to you is not cash available to spend.
• Delivery review: estimated hours per order ___; actual hours ___.
• Next-month decision: ___; evidence behind it: ___; first action and date: ___.

Look for paid demand, workable delivery and costs you can sustain. Likes alone do not establish demand. A quiet month is also inconclusive if very few suitable customers saw the offer. Record what the test actually showed before making a larger commitment.

Go further with the AI Builders community

If your business experiment involves AI, explore the Azerbaijani AI Builders community for practical examples, peer feedback and discussion, starting at https://abcommunity.org/resurslar. Bring your own month-one result to the conversation and ask for feedback on a specific next step.

• Sharing prompt: «I tested ___ for ___. The strongest signal was ___. My next decision is ___. What would you check before taking that step?»
• Remove customer identities, contact details and confidential business information before sharing your notes.