How to get local students for a new business?
Traditional local advertising like flyers, city events, and mailers often fails to bring in enough students to fill classes. This leaves business owners with empty rooms and no clear path to finding clients in a competitive area.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1relying purely on word of mouthDid this help you?
- 2taking on private lessons from outside competitive dancers from established studiosDid this help you?
- 3Getting the first clients from people already in your networkDid this help you?
- 4Targeting turnover cleans between tenants ordered by property managers and realtorsDid this help you?
- 5Gaining initial experience and trust by applying to work for established cleaning companies firstDid this help you?
- 6Using a Facebook pageDid this help you?
- 7Considering lawn signage for current clientsDid this help you?
- 8Considering vehicle signageDid this help you?
- 9Setting up a Google Business Profile to appear in searches and collect reviewsDid this help you?
- 10Spending money on Google AdsDid this help you?
- 11Posting on social media and InstagramDid this help you?
- 12Asking friends and family to leave cars outside to look busierDid this help you?
- 13Looking into mobile servicing or pick-up and deliveryDid this help you?
- 14Scanning local Facebook groups for people posting about car problemsDid this help you?
- 15building a websiteDid this help you?
- 16setting up a google business profileDid this help you?
- 17using booking software like bokunDid this help you?
- 18running meta, tiktok, and google adsDid this help you?
- 19using online travel agencies (OTAs)Did this help you?
- 20hiring a part-time marketing person for social mediaDid this help you?
- 21setting up a website and configuring SEODid this help you?
- 22thinking of sending physical letters with discounts or free entryDid this help you?
- 23keeping the menu short and fastDid this help you?
- 24positioning trucks near breweries or festivals where people are drinkingDid this help you?
- 25serving standard comfort foods like BBQ, tacos, pizza, or wingsDid this help you?
- 26Posting the business on Google MapsDid this help you?
- 27Asking questions about advertising strategies and target audienceDid this help you?
- 28setting up social media pages on Facebook and InstagramDid this help you?
- 29creating a Google landing pageDid this help you?
- 30printing business cards and flyers to distribute at auto parts stores and gas stationsDid this help you?
- 31Posting on Instagram weekly with class clipsDid this help you?
- 32Posting in local Facebook groupsDid this help you?
- 33Distributing flyersDid this help you?
- 34Running Facebook and Instagram paid adsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Guy's I just started a new cafe business over taking ₹2lakh loan and now I am literally bankrupt I don't have any money Today is the 3rd day of our cafe opening only 2 coustomer came on these 2 days and I didn't even close cover my per day expenses what can I do now”source ↗
“Despite these efforts, we haven't seen as much traction as we expected.”source ↗
“That being said, I've been going for about a month now, and I've gotten 5 jobs, 2 being family members. I just feel like it's taking too long, and I'm sure I'm just being impatient, but if anyone had ideas for marketing or anything else to get more customers I'd like some help.”source ↗
“My younger kid classes are practically empty and I really need to get more students in.”source ↗
“I made flyers, passed out schedules, did boots on the ground advertising dropping flyers at homes, done events through the city, mailed out advertising, it seems like nothing is working.”source ↗
“Some weeks we barely get 3–4 calls and it’s honestly pretty demoralising.”source ↗
“We just don’t get enough people through the door.”source ↗
“What makes it worse is there are garages near us that look absolutely rammed all the time. Cars everywhere, phones ringing, people coming and going, and then ours can be dead. It’s hard not to look at that and think, what the hell are we doing wrong?”source ↗
“does the food variety or uniqueness stand out or is it something else that makes people want to buy from food trucks?”source ↗
“i want something that pairs well with that.”source ↗
“I'd like to get to around 15 regular students, but I'm struggling to get people through the door.”source ↗
“The thing I'm struggling with is figuring out where the problem actually is. Are people not seeing the class posters? Is the price a barrier even though it's competitive? Are people interested but not converting? Or am I marketing in completely the wrong places?”source ↗
“How does one find houses to clean?”source ↗
“So far I can buy the cleaning supplies tomorrow and have a car but I am not sure where to find homes to clean.”source ↗
“I’m struggling bad to find more cleaning clients”source ↗
“we seem to have plateaued on acquiring new clients year after year.”source ↗
“We have relied on social media and word of mouth for the last 5 years, but we are having difficulty gaining.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Where do I even start when opening a small business?
- 3How do I find early startup employees with no budget?
- 7How to buy a small e-commerce business for under 20k
- 3how to register a business as a teen
- 8How do local manufacturing businesses get customers online?
- 6How to find reliable staff for a food business