Your potential owner is quite right, a jet is better than a turboprop for most private individuals (because most private individuals are not going into shorter strips using public transport distances, they're not hauling a lot of weight in freight, and they are not trying to buy the cheapest seat-mile - but they ARE looking for prestige and personal comfort).
So it comes down to how many seats you need. For 2 adults, sometimes 4, the CJ1 is great. For 4 adults, sometimes 6, the CJ2 is great. For more seats than that, you need to step up to something much bigger. But, only buy what you need - if you generally need 2 passengers, but once a year you need 8, don't buy an 8 seat airplane - buy a CJ1 and charter a bigger aircraft when you need it.