The e hustle 52: No successful ecommerce founder ever said this…
Nov 27, 2025“I’m not sure how my revenue and profits tripled in the last year.”
No. No no no no no.
They know.
Over 20 years in ecommerce, there is one question I will always ask when I see an ecommerce founder that’s had a breakout year - hitting $50m, growing profits 400% in a year, or making the Rich List, and so on.
That question is:
“So, looking back over the last 12 months, how did you do it?”
Do you know what they’ve never responded with?
I tweaked creative.
I unlocked a new audience in Meta ads.
I ran 1200 ads instead of 900.
I rethemed my website.
I focused on story telling.
I shot a new ad.
I added 3 flows to Klaviyo.
Hey - those things are great, but they don’t pay for the beach house baby.
They don’t really move the needle. Come on, you know it…they’re the 1 percenters, and that’s great when you’re already turning over $100m - but real talk - how are we getting to $100m?
Do you know what I do hear?
I increased my product frequency from quarterly to monthly.
I dropped 100% more product than ever before, and some of it caught fire.
I landed a huge deal with an overseas marketplace and our sales charged ahead.
I dropped my inventory holding and turned that extra cash into capital to grow my range.
I changed my price point while preserving my margin at hit volume.
I made it in the US.
I reduced my OPEX by 20% and tripled profits.
I launched new products that went viral and my MER dropped so my profit increased.
I launched a brand partnership that went viral.
I closed 5 stores and increased my profits 500%.
You see where I’m going? BIG money moves. Swinging the axe I always talk about.
So my question to you is: What big moves are you making?
Are you toiling away in business as usual mode praying that your CPMs make you rich?
Or are you busy planning a bloody takeover that’s going to shake up your entire industry!
The hard fact is, that optimising never made anyone rich.
It’s nice, but it’s not game changing.
If you want a world class ecommerce business, you need to develop a world class strategy.
Here are three of my clients who did exactly that.
Not a CPM in sight…
Swing the axe friends.
If you need a hand, let’s chat - Book here.
Until next week,
Paul
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