This week, I met with an early-stage founder who just finished a big project and is thinking about the next strategic thing they should work on. During our conversation, the founder zeroed in on their biggest challenge: getting more customers. The first version of their product is built, and it’s been tested by a handful of early paying customers. No major issues were found, so the founder is ready to get more paying customers to use the platform. The challenge is that how to find them isn’t obvious. In fact, it’s pretty hard, especially since the founder is bootstrapping the company.

Making customers aware of your product or service is a problem that never goes away, regardless of your size. But it feels insurmountable in the early days when resources are limited. Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet. The tactics that work change constantly as the world evolves. But one principle that underlies many successful tactics is to start by meeting customers where they are.

It’s hard to get people to change their habits, or “flows” as I call them. Instead of trying to get them to come to the site of a new company or to a new platform to learn more about your product, consider meeting them where they already are. I know that sounds broad, but when you do that, you’re forced to think about things from the customer’s perspective. You have to learn their existing behaviors and habits. Once you understand them, you can begin testing tactics that lean into what they’re already doing. Test enough of them and one is bound to work. When you find one that works well, do more of it.

Finding customers is something all entrepreneurs think about. In the early days, they should try to understand their potential customers’ behaviors and habits. Doing so makes it easier to understand how to market to them by meeting them where they are.