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Launch & get your first customers

Which single channel should I put all my energy into for the first 100 orders?

Apply the Bullseye framework literally at this stage - test 3-4 cheap channels (Instagram, WhatsApp broadcast, a local offline pop-up, referrals from existing buyers) for a week each, track actual orders not likes, then commit hard to whichever one produced real rupees. Most Indian D2C founders discover it's a hybrid of Instagram-for-discovery plus WhatsApp-for-closing, not one pure channel. Resist the pull to run five channels badly instead of one channel well before you've even hit 100 orders.

Go deeper

3 resources, 1 India-specific, 1 link-checked.

📖 Book
✓ Link checked Paid Beginner

The full-length treatment of the Bullseye framework with worked examples across all 19 channels, worth the read once you're deciding where to spend your limited early hours, not just your money. A durable reference, not a one-time skim.

Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth

From Portfolio by Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares

  • Detailed, channel-by-channel playbooks including offline and community tactics
  • Case studies of early-stage companies choosing an unlikely core channel
  • Good complement to the free Bullseye summary once you want the depth
Open amazon.com
📄 Article
Free Intermediate

The clearest short framework for choosing which single channel to bet on for your first 100 orders instead of spreading effort thin across five. Read it before, not after, you've burned a month testing everything at once.

The Bullseye Framework for Getting Traction

From Medium by Gabriel Weinberg

  • 19 traction channels to shortlist before you commit
  • Test cheap, then focus hard on the channel that actually converts
  • Applies just as well to a physical D2C product as to a SaaS tool
Open medium.com
📄 Article
India Free Beginner

Written by an Indian shipping/COD infrastructure company that works with hundreds of early-stage D2C stores, so the advice reflects what they actually see working in the first 100 orders, not generic global playbooks. Useful India-specific counterpart to the global listicles.

Strategy to Acquire First 100 Customers for Your eCommerce Store

From Shipway Blog

  • India-specific first-100-customer tactics from a logistics vendor's vantage point
  • Frames the first 100 orders as proof-of-concept, not a revenue milestone
  • Practical on COD, delivery experience and early trust-building in India
Open shipway.in

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The same ground, over in Get your first customers, our Starting Up track.

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