The business exists. The tools are bought, the insurance is sorted, maybe the van’s even got your name on it. There’s just one problem, and it’s the only one that actually matters: not enough customers know you exist.
It’s a horrible stage, and the internet makes it worse by shouting fifty different answers at you. Run ads! Post reels! Start a newsletter! Build a funnel! You’ve got neither the budget nor the hours for fifty things, and here’s the truth: you don’t need fifty. You need four, done properly, in the right order. This is the first-90-days stack we’d point any new local business at, with honest timelines for each.
Step 1 (week 1): claim and complete your Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is the free listing that puts your business on Google Maps and in local search results, and for a new local business it is the single highest-value half hour on the internet. When someone nearby searches “dog groomer near me”, the map results appear before almost everything else. You want to be in that box, and it costs nothing.
Claiming it isn’t the job; completing it is. Every category filled in, real photos, your services listed, opening hours accurate, a description that says what you do and where. Most profiles are half-finished, which is exactly why a complete one stands out. We’ve written the exact 30-minute setup checklist we run for clients.
Timeline honesty: your profile can start appearing in map results within days of verification, but climbing above established competitors takes months of reviews and activity. Start now precisely because it compounds.
Step 2 (weeks 1 to 2): one page online that does the basics brilliantly
You don’t need a twelve-page website in week one. You need one page that a stranger can land on and immediately learn: what you do, where you do it, why they should trust you, and how to get in touch. That’s it. Your Google profile, your social posts and your word-of-mouth all need somewhere legitimate to send people, because customers check before they call.
Do the maths on your options honestly. DIY builders are cheap in pounds and expensive in evenings. If you’d rather spend those evenings on paying work, MarketingDone4U builds 5-page websites from £99 a month with the copy written for you, hosting and professional email included, live in 7 working days once we have your completed form, content and access details. (It’s a managed monthly service on a minimum 12-month term; MarketingDone4U owns the site unless you buy it out, and a buyout is available.) Still unsure you need one at all? We’ve given an honest answer to that question, including when you genuinely don’t.
Step 3 (from your first job onwards): turn every customer into two
Your first customers are the most valuable marketing asset you will ever own, because asking is free and almost nobody does it properly. Two asks, every single job:
- The review ask. The day you finish, while they’re pleased, send a short message with your Google review link. Not “if you get a chance sometime”. A direct, friendly ask with the link one tap away. Five genuine reviews put a new business ahead of half the established ones in town.
- The referral ask. “If you know anyone else who needs this doing, I’d really appreciate the mention.” Said out loud, to a happy customer, it works far more often than it has any right to.
This step has no budget and no tech. It’s a habit. The businesses that build it early are the ones that stop worrying about quiet months first.
Step 4 (ongoing, 30 minutes a week): pick ONE social channel
One. Not four. The channel where your customers actually are: for most local trades and services that’s Facebook (local groups especially), for visual work like food, grooming or interiors it’s Instagram.
Then post consistently rather than impressively. Finished jobs, before-and-afters, a question answered, a behind-the-scenes photo. Weekly is plenty. A page that posted every week for three months looks alive and trustworthy; four channels abandoned since March look like a business that might not answer the phone.
The 90-day view (and what to ignore)
| When | What | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Google Business Profile claimed and 100% complete | 30 to 60 minutes |
| Weeks 1 to 2 | One page online: what, where, proof, contact | Time, or from £99/mo done for you |
| Every job | Review ask + referral ask | Nothing |
| Weekly | One post on one channel | 30 minutes |
Expect little in month one, a trickle in month two, and by month three a Google profile gathering reviews, a page collecting enquiries and a feed proving you’re real. That’s how it goes; anyone promising you a flood in week two is selling something.
What to ignore for now: paid ads before your page converts (you’d pay to send people somewhere leaky), TikTok because someone’s nephew said so, newsletters before you have anyone to send them to, and anything described as a “funnel”. They all have their day. It isn’t day one.
And if you get to week six with the plan half-done because the actual work took over, that’s not a discipline failure, it’s the normal fate of owner-done marketing. It’s exactly the problem outsourcing your marketing exists to solve, and it’s why our whole model is done-for-you from a fixed monthly price.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get customers with no marketing budget?
Use the free trio: a complete Google Business Profile, a review ask after every job and a referral ask to every happy customer. Together they build local visibility and trust without spending anything. Your only real cost is consistency, doing the asks every time rather than when you remember.
How long does it take to get customers online?
Plan in months, not days. A Google Business Profile can surface within days of verification, but reviews, rankings and referrals compound over roughly 90 days before enquiries feel steady. Paid ads can bring clicks sooner if the page they land on converts, though spend without that foundation is usually wasted.
Do I need a website to get customers, or is social media enough?
Social media can start conversations, but most customers check a business online before contacting it, and a page you own is proof you’re established. It also collects search traffic that social never will. One good page beats no website, and beats a brilliant Instagram feed with nowhere to send people.
What’s the fastest way for a new local business to get noticed?
Complete your Google Business Profile and get your first five genuine reviews. Map-pack visibility puts you in front of people searching for your service in your area right now, with buying intent, for free. Nothing else a new local business can do this week competes with that combination.
Should a new business pay for Google Ads straight away?
Usually not in the first month. Ads amplify whatever they point at, so clicks sent to a page that doesn’t convert simply burn budget. Get your page and profile working first, then consider ads for reaching people your rankings can’t. Remember ad spend is always separate from any management fee.
Want this done for you? See our done-for-you services, or compare every service and price in one place.
