How I Would Start a Service Business Again

If I were starting again, I would not choose a random skill and assume a business will appear around it. I would build enough competence in the connected work to sell and deliver a service, then use those skills to solve a problem that people are actually trying to buy their way out of.

Learn the skills around the service

A web designer still needs people to discover the website, understand the offer and buy. That means the work extends into copywriting, traffic, sales conversations, client communication and eventually hiring and operating procedures.

I call my own learning process a spider web. Researching websites led me to landing pages, then to ClickFunnels and a Russell Brunson webinar. The courses I bought introduced copywriting and getting traffic, so the learning spread beyond making a page look good.

Client Ascension related reading: the acquisition guide connects the marketing and sales skills that sit around delivering a service.

Build minimum viable competence across the workflow

What I first imagined as web design became an advertising business and later organic Instagram marketing. For that business to function, I needed to connect the funnel, payment collection, video sales letter, email capture, email software and follow-up, as well as content and outreach.

I did not need to become the best specialist in every part before selling a service. My point is that minimum viable competence across the surrounding workflow helped me sell the part I was offering, instead of treating delivery skill as the whole business.

Find the problem instead of forcing the niche

I use a plumber example to show the problem with choosing a niche at random. A plumber who already has plenty of bookings may need employees more than another lead-generation campaign. In that situation, a recruitment offer could address a different and more relevant problem.

The point is not that every plumber is fully booked or that recruitment is always the answer. I want the offer to come from understanding a pressing problem, rather than attaching whichever skill you learned to whichever industry you picked.

Study real offers as a way to learn the market

I suggest looking closely at offers being advertised: what is being sold, who it is for, how the package is structured and what it costs. Looking at the page and follow-up also shows how the seller explains the problem and the solution.

I compare this to looking at houses repeatedly while learning what a good deal looks like. Seeing more examples develops your judgment.

Client Ascension editorial note: Repeated advertising is a reason to investigate an offer; it is not independent proof of the advertiser’s profit or return on ad spend.

Client Ascension related reading: the asymmetric offer lesson looks at how an offer connects to the buyer's business economics.

Turn a real result into useful proof

Once I have helped a client move from their starting problem to the intended outcome, I can build a case study around that work. In the lesson, I describe using a video, a document or a video sales letter to explain what happened and distribute that evidence.

The useful material is the specific problem and what the service did about it. That gives the next prospect something more concrete than a claim that I know the skill.

Client Ascension related reading: Alex's fractional CFO case study is a separate example of explaining an offer, outreach and the realities of a sales cycle.

Let client problems guide the next skill

A client may then describe another real problem. I can learn the skill needed to address it, develop an additional offer and create another case study if the work produces a result. That is the learning-and-delivery loop I want you to see.

I would use the process to keep connecting skills with actual demand, rather than treat a revenue goal in the historical video as a forecast. The next step is formulating the skills into a clear value proposition for the market.

Client Ascension related reading: the first-client lesson addresses starting the sales process before you have your own case studies.

Adapted by Client Ascension with AI assistance from Daniel Fazio's lesson. The first-person narrative follows the source speaker’s account. Watch the original video