Focus on getting people using your service first. Prove the value then roll out a paid service. Inlike the idea of a success fee for contractors over the idea of upfront fees.

You've probably heard the saying "I'll know if when I see it". That's often the case for people when they're hiring their first salesperson. Once you're down to your shortlist observe all the candidates in a real selling situation. If you don't want to do this yourself use a service like simberry.com Good luck.

In my experience incentives for referrals don't work that well. Particularly if your referral sources are small businesses. The small amount they'll get won't compensate the risk of upsetting their clients. I'd suggest you find a way to make it easy for your referrers to introduce you. Think of a service they could offer their clients you could provide for free: website review or a 1/2 hour consultation. Or a product they could give away that's seems valuable like a complimentary webinar, or white paper or report, or checklist. Help your referrers look good in front of their clients.

Focus on coaching in a business function you excel at in a niche you understand and can build (or have) authority in. For example the marketing coach for dentists or the goal-getting coach for retailers. Depending on your business model you only need a handful of clients to create instant cash flow, and then a source of referrals.

It's tough to answer without knowing more details about what you sell and to who. I've got a one page sales process template that I can send you. Let me know if you'd like a copy.