u/TechWin01

I’m trying to start a small service-based business (digital marketing / social media support for local businesses), but I feel stuck at the very beginning.

I have a general idea of what I want to offer and who I want to work with, but I’ve never built anything like this before, and I’m not sure what the first practical step should be.

Right now I’m debating between a few options:

• Trying to get my first client manually before setting anything up
• Building some kind of basic offer/package first
• Setting up the legal side (registration, etc.) early
• Or spending time learning tools/skills before approaching anyone

For those of you who started a service business from scratch:

• What did you actually do first that made things “real”?
• Did you get a client before everything was properly set up, or after?
• Looking back, what would you not waste time on in the beginning?

I’m not trying to overthink it, just don’t want to spend months doing the wrong things.

Appreciate any real-world advice.