Should I focus on digital or local businesses for my web design services, and how should I test which works better?
You don’t have to choose just one—you can do both digital and local. Run a side‑by‑side experiment for about two weeks: target local businesses across the US and South Africa in one test, and digital businesses in the same regions in another. Measure how many people say yes in each, how difficult it is to scrape leads (using time as a metric), and what average order value you can pitch for digital versus physical offers. Let the data tell you which works better.
No, as a beginner you should not target local businesses first. There’s a big list of things to target before going local—always start with digital, and consider hybrid or high‑cost‑of‑living countries before local. Local businesses are much harder to scrape leads for; you usually need to pull data via Google Maps API or address‑based scraping, which is hyper‑limited and raises the bar significantly. You’d have to invest far more money than for digital businesses, yet the pay is low, so the return isn’t worth it. Generally, these businesses have a high barrier to entry and offer little pay. If you want context, I’ll link a video about niches; three automation‑agency niches come with criteria I use, one of which is that they tend to be digital. For newcomers, that means definitely not targeting local businesses—it’s just a lot easier to pull the digital lever. If you’re experienced and see a genuine market opportunity with a particular type of local business, then I might consider it.
The reality is you don't know the answers to any of these questions and you will not figure them out if you keep only thinking. Thinking caps out quickly—most of the gains come in the first five minutes, then it plateaus around 70% certainty. You can get a bit more by thinking, but to move from 70% to 100% you have to actually go out and do it. Test each option—selling ads, selling systems, or a combination—collect the data, and only then decide which path truly works. You can't figure everything out now; you need to jump on the wagon, experiment, and let the results guide you.
It's a common problem for beginners to spend too much time thinking about the business model instead of actually doing it. You're likely stuck in your head wondering what niche to pick, how to reach people, and which platforms to use. Rather than overthinking, you should test an idea in the market. Pick three things: choose an outreach minimum per day on platforms you have experience with—like DMs on Instagram, X, LinkedIn, communities, Reddit—and run it for a month without changing anything. After 30 days, if you do about 10 pieces of outreach per platform, you'll have contacted nearly 1,000 people, giving you real data to inform your next step. For example, you might find that your web development offer converts at 2.9% while your cyber offer doesn't perform as well, letting you focus on what works. This approach turns you into a scientist of your own life, gradually carving out the solution space and increasing your chances of success.