Short answer
Pick one buyer you can deliver for. Find the event that makes them need software now — a funding round, an outdated site, a platform they run, a manual process that stopped coping. Build a list of companies showing that event, and reach out about the specific gap you saw, not your tech stack. Referrals and partner agencies compound on top of that list; directories and marketplaces are a supplement.
Software is bought after a trigger
Nobody wakes up wanting to buy "software development." Businesses buy a fix for something that changed. A startup raises a round and has to ship a product. A retailer outgrows spreadsheets and WhatsApp threads and needs a real ordering system. A manufacturer's dealers keep calling for prices because a brochure site built years ago cannot take an order. A browser starts warning visitors that the site is not secure.
That flips the prospecting question. You are not looking for companies that might want a website someday; you are looking for companies where the change already happened and is visible from the outside. A trigger you can see gives you a timely, specific reason to write, and a message that is about them instead of about you.
Pick the buyer first
A small dev company cannot chase every buyer, so choose one — ideally the one whose problems match projects you have already shipped. This table maps five buyers to the trigger you can observe from outside and where to find companies showing it.
| Buyer | What they commission | Trigger you can see from outside | Where to find them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funded startups | MVP builds, product team extension | A new funding round | [recently funded startups in India](/funded-startups-india): 242 startups announced a round in the last six months, seed the most common (59), across 11 cities |
| Businesses with an old site | Rebuilds, web apps, mobile-ready sites | An outdated, insecure or non-mobile site | [businesses with an outdated site](/leads-for/website-redesign): 40,837 out of 1,32,279 business websites read, 17,481 with a phone number |
| WordPress and Shopify businesses | Platform work, migrations, custom features | The platform itself, detected from their site | Lists of [companies using WordPress](/lists/companies-using-wordpress) (45,196) and [companies using Shopify](/lists/companies-using-shopify) (3,785) |
| Manufacturers and MSMEs | ERPs, dealer portals, catalogue and B2B ordering | A brochure site built years ago; sales running through dealers and trade relationships | [list of manufacturers in India](/lists/list-of-manufacturers-in-india): 2,491 manufacturers, suppliers and wholesalers, 1,510 with a website |
| Businesses needing managed IT and cloud | Cloud setup, support contracts, migrations | Growth past what a small in-house setup can handle | See the guide on [IT services and cloud clients](/resources/how-to-get-it-services-and-cloud-clients) |
The counts above come from Mantis's public lists, last updated 13 Nov 2026 (the manufacturers list on 6 Nov 2026); treat them as a working sample of businesses found and checked — not the whole market, but a practical source of software development leads in India.
Five channels that work for a small Indian dev company, in order
Whether you are figuring out how to get clients for an IT company or a product-building dev shop, this order holds.
Writing the first message
Lead with the gap you saw. Follow with one sentence on what you would build. Close with one small next step. Never open with a capability deck or a list of technologies — the buyer does not care what you know until they believe you saw their problem.
Hi [Name],
I came across [Company] and noticed [gap]. That usually means [problem it creates].
I'd [what you'd build or fix first, in one sentence].
Worth a short call this week? If easier, I can send a short note on how I'd approach it.
Keep it short enough to read on a phone without scrolling.
Qualifying
Run four checks before you write a proposal. Budget owner: are you talking to the person who can say yes? Timeline: is there a real date, or a vague "sometime this year"? The trigger: did the event actually happen, and does it still matter to them? Maintenance: who owns the software after launch — if the answer is nobody, that is a support conversation and possibly a retainer, not a dead end. If most answers are vague, stay in touch but do not spend days on a proposal.
Going overseas (UK, US, Australia)
The same method works for overseas buyers: one buyer, one visible trigger, a researched list. The practical difference is timezone overlap — keep a few working hours that cross the buyer's morning, say so in your first message, and schedule calls in their time zone. The trigger, the gap and the short message stay the same.
Related reading
How to get app development clients
How to get IT services and cloud clients
Companies showing a buying trigger, checked
Funded startups, outdated sites, WordPress and Shopify businesses and manufacturers, with phone, website and site signals for each one.
Find clientsThe bottom line
Companies buy software when something changes, so your pipeline is a list of changes, not a list of companies. Pick one buyer, find the trigger you can see from outside, and work that list every week.
If you want the lists ready-made, Mantis gives new accounts 500 free credits once at signup, no card. Try Mantis.
I'm Tarun, founder of Mantis.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my first client for a software company?
Start where trust already exists — past employers, ex-colleagues, local business owners who have seen your work — and in parallel pick one trigger from the table above and work a small list. Scope the first project tightly, deliver it well, and turn it into a case study and a referral ask.
Is Upwork worth it for an Indian software company?
As a supplement, yes; as your only pipeline, no. You are one of many proposals on each job, so it is harder to stand out on anything but price. Use it for early projects and reviews while your outbound list and referrals build pricing power.
How do IT services companies find customers?
IT services clients buy after change too — headcount growth, an outage, an internal hire they could not make. If you are asking how to find customers for IT services specifically, look for companies showing those changes and write to them about the gap. The spoke guide on [IT services and cloud clients](/resources/how-to-get-it-services-and-cloud-clients) goes deeper.
Should I cold email or cold call?
Both work when the message leads with their trigger. Email scales better and gives the buyer time to check you; a call is faster when the gap is urgent and a number exists — the outdated-site list alone includes 17,481 businesses with a phone number. If you are new to outbound, start with email, then call the companies that did not reply.
How do I find startups that need developers?
Look for startups that just raised money — a new round often comes with a plan to ship product. Mantis's page on [recently funded startups in India](/funded-startups-india) lists 242 startups that announced a round in the last six months, each with round, amount, investors and the source article; seed is the most common round (59), spread over 11 cities. Write to them about what the round needs to become: an MVP, a faster release cycle, an extended product team.
Related reading
Recently funded startups in India · Digital marketing leads · Website redesign leads · Companies using Shopify · Companies using WordPress · List of manufacturers in India · How to find clients for web development · How to get app development clients · How to get IT services and cloud clients · Where to find web design clients
