A lot of these ideas are good. But it sounds like you need customers today and you can't wait...

If you have zero dollars to spend, then you need to spend more of your time. 

And you need to start by really figuring out what your business does for people. 

"I help people with MS Excel and other spreadsheet programs to do complex formulas, or rearrange data, or even automate certain data entry tasks" is okay, but how can we make it better? Simpler?

Think about the person you'd be working with... what kind of problems do they have?

Personally, as a business owner (BO) who uses excel to track my business expenses, I get frustrated when I'm setting everything up. Having to add in all the formatting... having to double-triple check that I got my formulas right (and most times I'm still seeing errors.)

That entire process is a pain in the ass. And it's something that I would pay money to solve. 

And that's me as someone who's pretty good with computers -- I'm not a hacker, but I get by. 

And when you think about it, creating these spreadsheets requires a lot of technical knowledge. I'd say a lot more technical knowledge than most BOs have... 

The BOs who kept up with technology are easier to sell and work with because they appreciate what you do and have an idea of the work that's involved. 

But I'd say most BOs don't understand what it takes to make these spreadsheets. They just see the spreadsheet and want to know why they should care.

Take what you do and make it so simple that there's no way a person wouldn't know what your business does:

"I make customizable spreadsheets for businesses so they can keep track of their most important data.  I make the spreadsheets entirely from the ground up so my customers never have to worry about the set-up process. I design the look of the spreadsheet. I add in all the equations you need to track your expenses. And I adjust the formatting so that everything's organized and the most important things stand out. All you have to do is plug in the numbers and the spreadsheet will do the rest."

I'd say that's a little simpler. A little easier to understand than the original. But it's not great. How can you make it better?

You'll want to do the same thing for complex formulas and rearranging data. Explain why it's important. Remember, most business owners don't understand the technical aspects behind it. So you need to keep it simple. 

What problem does a complex formula solve? Same goes for rearranging data. Why should I as a business owner care? How do those things help me? 

Once you figure out why a BO needs complex formulas and his data rearranged, you've got another hook.

Hindsight's 20/20 when it comes to Avatars -- maybe it could have helped you avoid this problem because then you'd know more about your customers and it would be easier to sell to them. But you should have a good foundation for an avatar after this, so you're all right...

You should definitely focus on a main problem. My example was a real problem that I have as a business owner. A problem that I would pay to solve. That's something that would hook my attention and business owners like me who have a similar problem...

Cold calling's a good option when you've got no money and a lot time. Especially since a lot of businesses are still adjusting to the lockdown regulations. 

But if you can, I'd say try to set up a meet face-to-face. I don't know a better way to win a potential client than with a face-to-face meet.

If the thought of talking to someone about your business scares you, or if you're the type of person who doesn't like to "sell" yourself. There are some workarounds. 

That would be like calling on the phone. Sending an email. Writing a handwritten letter and dropping it off... (Hey, you got to do what you got to do. When you've got zero dollars to spend, you've got to get resourceful.) 

A few suggestions say things about paid advertising. It works but you don't have cashflow right now, so wouldn't worry about that yet... 

Jan had a few good hooks: "Can't tell if your business is making money?" "Need help getting ready for tax season?"...

Ada made some good points. So did Art... 

And I'm with Raul. We can only help so much until we have the specifics. 

Your business isn't too obscure. It just needs a little more thought. 

You got this.