I’ve been coaching a friend as she launches a new business. She used an AI website builder to create a fairly complex e-commerce website. The site is live and she’s open for business—a huge milestone. Now she’s tackling her next problem: how to make people aware of this new business.

It’s a classic dilemma. Some entrepreneurs have a field-of-dreams mentality: If you launch a business, customers will automatically come. The reality can be more discouraging. Building a new company or product is hard and forces you to learn new things. But the journey isn’t over when you check that box. Quite the opposite—the journey’s just beginning. You’ve finished a segment of it, and another one that you’re likely equally unfamiliar with awaits you.

Finding those early customers isn't easy, but it’s something you must figure out. If you don’t, you have no business. I’m excited for my friend as she embarks on the next part of her journey. I’m not sure how she’ll find early customers, but I’m pretty confident that she’ll figure it out and gain valuable insights as she does.