The e hustle 49: Nobody grew anything by optimising...

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This edition of The E Hustle, sponsored by Nexus Advisory, funding growing ecommerce businesses. 

Most ecommerce founders think scaling is about ads.
Or tweaking creative.
Or fiddling with the website.

False.

If your fundamentals aren’t right, ads will only multiply the problem.
The real path to scale is my 3-step system:
Diagnose. Prescribe. Execute.

Step 1: Diagnose

Every brand has a blockage somewhere.
Until you find it, growth will stall.

This is why we always start clients with a Scale Assessment.
It’s the process we use to diagnose problems across Sales, Gross Profit, and OPEX + Inventory.
It shows us, and you, exactly where the blockages are.

And I’ll say this: if anyone ever tells you to scale your business or your ads without first running a proper diagnostic like this, they need their heads read.

The three areas you must check are:

• Sales – conversion, AOV, product cadence, repeat purchase

• Gross Profit – margins strong enough to fund growth

• OPEX + Inventory – costs lean, inventory balanced so cash flows freely

If one is broken, the whole system is red.

Step 2: Prescribe

If you can’t diagnose the issue, you’re flying blind.

How can you prescribe the right growth projects if you don’t know what’s broken?
How can you execute on anything meaningful if you’re guessing?

Without diagnosis, you stay stuck in BAU mode, Business As Usual.
And growth doesn’t live in BAU. Growth lives in fixing the blockages.

Prescription must always match the diagnosis.
Low conversion? Fix CRO before pumping more into ads.
Weak margin? Negotiate harder, price better, stop over-discounting.
Bloated OPEX or stock? Trim costs, tighten cover, free up cash.

Step 3: Execute

Here’s the magic.
When you have clarity over exactly what you need to do, the feeling is incredible.

No more guesswork.
No more distractions.

You’re executing with focus on the projects that will actually grow your business, not just keep you busy.

That kind of clarity builds momentum. And momentum is the fuel for scale.

The Rule of Green

In my Ecommerce Scale System, all three parts must be green:

• Sales working

• Gross Profit healthy

• OPEX and Inventory under control

If one is red, the whole system is red.
And if you’re red, you’re dead.

Swing the Axe

As I always say: scaling isn’t about tinkering, it’s about swinging the axe.

Not one of my big clients has ever looked back after a year of crazy growth and said:
“You know, I don’t really know how we did that, we just tweaked a few things.”

Never.

It’s always been big bloody moves. Big bloody swings of the axe.

Because nobody grew anything by optimising.

The Hard Truth

Some of you are trying to scale when you simply aren’t scale ready.

Get the business scale ready by diagnosing what really matters.
Then scale your ads… and tell me what happens.

Until next week,

Paul

PS, if you need help swinging the axe, reply to this email.