How to attract customers to a small shop, cheapest first

Here's how to attract customers when the budget is close to zero: spend time, not money. Be easy to see from the street, easy to try, easy to find on the phone and quick to answer. Some of the best free tactics are Filipino ones: a tie-up with the laundry shop or salon next door, and promos timed to payday on the 15th and the 30th.

Paid ads can wait until you know what works. The tactics below run from free to low cost. Before you try any of them, start one habit. Ask every new face "Saan niyo po kami nakita?" (Where did you hear about us?) and make a tally in your notebook: sign, Facebook, Google Maps, a friend, the shop next door. After two weeks the tally tells you where to put your effort.

• Free, one hour: fix what your sign and storefront say from across the street, and give tastes of your best seller.
• Free, one conversation: a tie-up with the shop next door, like the laundry shop and the carinderia beside it.
• Free, one calendar: promos timed to payday weekends, a cheaper petsa de peligro combo before payday, fiesta and the holidays.
• Free, one hour: complete your Google Maps profile.
• Free, a few minutes a day: reply to Messenger and Viber within minutes.
• Free, one post: introduce yourself in your barangay or village Facebook group.
• Low cost: an opening-week offer with an end date.
• Free, forever: word of mouth from your suki.

Why it works: people walking or riding past decide in a few seconds. If they can't tell what you sell and if you're open, they don't stop, however good the food or service is inside.

This week: cross the street and take a photo of your shop from the opposite sidewalk, then one from the height of a jeepney seat. Look at the photo, not the shop. Can you read the name, what you sell and that you're open? Fix what you can't read. Then add tasting. At your busiest hour, have someone at the door say "Tikim po, bagong bukas lang kami" and offer small samples of your best seller.

Did it work: add "dumaan lang" (just passing) to your tally. Count the samples you gave and how many of those people bought in the next hour.

• Say what you sell in two to four words on the sign, such as "Lugaw, Tapsilog, Kape" or "Haircut, Rebond, Nails". A name alone tells a stranger nothing.
• Show that you're open: a big OPEN sign, the shutter fully up, lights on inside even in daytime.
• Put the product where people can see it: the display tray facing the street, the milk tea cups lined up on the counter.
• Light the sign at night. A dark storefront after 6PM looks closed.

Why it works: the shop next door already has the customers you want, and you have theirs. A laundry shop's customers wait an hour with nothing to do, and the carinderia beside it sells lunch.

This week: walk to two neighbouring shops that sell something different from you and propose one simple swap. Keep it fair and easy to stop.

Did it work: give each partner a code word their customers say at your counter ("Galing po sa laundry") and count it in your tally.

• Swap small flyers or cards for each other's counters.
• Deliver: the milk tea stall takes orders from the salon's clients and brings them over.
• Bundle: "Show your laundry receipt, get free iced tea with your lunch."
• Recommend each other out loud, for example "Masarap po ang lugaw sa kabila", when customers ask.

Why it works: many workers are paid on or around the 15th and the 30th, and spending follows. The same promo usually does better on a payday weekend than in the lean days before it.

This week: mark the next two months' payday weekends, your barangay fiesta, nearby school events and the holidays on a calendar. Plan one small promo or new item for each, and stock up the day before. In the Philippines the Christmas season starts in September, so by October people are planning parties and gifts.

Did it work: compare those days with the same weekday a week earlier in your sales notebook.

• Payday weekends: a bigger size, a family bundle or a barkada set.
• Before payday: a cheaper "petsa de peligro" combo that still sells.
• Fiesta: open longer, cook more, and post your hours in the group.
• Christmas season: bilao and party orders, gift sets, and your holiday hours posted early.

Why it works: many people check their phone before they go anywhere. Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence, and that a complete, accurate profile is more likely to show up (Google's own explanation). Once they find you, many will message before they come. A shop that answers in two minutes often gets the order; one that answers the next morning has often lost it.

This week: if you're not on Google Maps yet, follow how to add your business to Google Maps. If you are, fill every field: the right category, hours, photos of the storefront and products, and a short description. Then set up your Facebook Page inbox so someone sees every message during open hours. How to rank higher on Google Maps covers the next steps.

Did it work: a verified profile shows calls, direction requests and website clicks in its performance view. Check it every Monday. On Facebook, Meta shows a "very responsive" badge on Pages with a Messenger response rate of 90% or higher and a response time under 15 minutes (Meta's help page). If the badge appears, your reply speed is where it should be.

• Turn on message notifications on the phone that sits at the counter.
• Save quick replies for the questions you get every day: price, hours, location, how to pay, delivery.
• Name one person who answers messages during open hours, even if that's you between customers.
• Use an away message at night, but a real answer has to follow: Meta says away messages don't count toward your response time.

Why it works: the members live within walking distance, and neighbours trust a neighbour's shop. One good post in the right group can bring new faces for days.

This week: read the rules of each group for your own area, then post once. Some groups allow selling posts only on certain days or in a pinned thread, and admins remove posts that break the rules. A real photo of your shop and your face does better than a poster.

Did it work: the tally again. Count "sa FB group" answers in the week after the post, and the messages that came from it.

• Say who you are, what you sell, a landmark ("tapat ng chapel"), your hours and how to pay.
• Answer every comment the same day, including "Magkano po?". Put the price in the reply.
• Don't repost the same ad every day, tag strangers, or post in groups for other towns.

Why it works: an offer gives a curious person a reason to come now instead of "one day". An end date makes now matter. This is the simplest answer to how to get customers for a new business in its first weeks. If you're still setting up, the first 30 days checklist for a new business puts the steps in order.

This week: pick one offer anyone can understand in a glance, put it on your sign and in your Facebook post, and give it a clear end date. Keep it to your opening, and never tie it to a review: Google's review policy forbids offering discounts or freebies in exchange for reviews.

Did it work: count how many people used the offer, then watch whether any of them come back in weeks two and three at the normal price. Those are the ones who matter.

• For a carinderia: free extra rice with every ulam during opening week, until Sunday.
• For a milk tea stall: free pearls for the first 50 customers.
• For a salon: a free blow-dry with any haircut during opening week.
• For any shop: a soft opening for neighbours the evening before you open, with free tastes and no hard selling.

Why it works: in small-business marketing in the Philippines, nothing beats a friend's recommendation. A regular who feels known recommends you without being asked. Part of that word of mouth now happens on Google, in reviews that strangers read before they visit.

This week: learn the names of five regulars and what they usually order. Give a stamp card so coming back feels rewarded. Then start asking every customer for a review on Google, the same way for everyone, with a printed review card at the counter or in the takeout bag. How to ask customers for Google reviews has the scripts, and how to know if your customers are loyal shows how to measure repeat visits.

Did it work: count the "a friend told me" answers in your tally, and the new reviews on your profile each week.

• Greet regulars by name and remember their usual ("Same pa rin po, ate?").
• Thank everyone as they leave with a "Salamat po, balik po kayo" and mean it.
• Reply to every review on Google, good or bad, within a day or two.
• When something goes wrong, fix it on the spot. How to handle angry customers has the words to use.