Get the details on this week’s episode:

What if I could show you how you can slash your giant list of things to do? 

I’m going to give you my process, so you could slash that list today. When you do, I promise, you’ll be more effective, you’ll make measurable progress, and you’ll feel better about how you spend your time.

How do I slash my “To Do List” without creating more stress?

The goal is to reduce the tasks on your list and feel confident that everything won’t fall apart.

You start by realizing that you’ll have a bigger impact on your results if you focus on doing a great job on a few areas of your business, rather than spending your work time rushing through your list and checking off a bunch of tasks.

When you’re in “check off” mode, you’re often not clear on why you’re doing the work, and you’re not asking yourself this one important question:

What does my business need right now?

When we’re in a state of overwhelm, most of us can’t see the answer. We see every task on our list as “important. That creates a sense of urgency, and it’s why we always feel like we’re behind.

A big “To Do List” is the Kiss of Death for people like us.

When you’ve got a big list of important things to do, you’re likely to be in high gear, dipping in and out of projects all the time. You feel like you’re working hard, and you’re doing the things you’re supposed to focus on, but you probably don’t feel confident that you’re on the right track. It feels messy and hard, and you wonder if you’re wasting your time.

Or, you might be the opposite. You might have a huge list of things you know you should do, but you still feel stuck. You know that you don’t have the time and resources to do all the things on your list. You want to work smart, but you can’t get clarity on where to start, and what will have the most impact on your results. You’re experiencing decision overwhelm, and you feel like you’re wasting your time.

Wasting time is more expensive than wasting money.

Don’t risk doing a little of a lot of things, but not completing anything.

Imagine that you have a piece of lumber setup with 10 nails that you need to finish hammering into the lumber. You’re allowed to hit the nails 10 times.

If you hit each nail 1 time, you’ll start 10 nails, but you won’t finish nailing any of them into the lumber. And in fact, you might not even be able to see that you’ve done anything.

But if you choose to focus on just 2 nails, and hit them 5 times each, you’ll finish hammering in 2 nails. You’ll be able to see the impact of your 10 hits. You’ll be clear and confident about the progress you’ve made, and what’s left to do.

Give yourself permission to remove tasks from your plate, so you can focus, and see the impact of your efforts.

3 steps to deciding what your business needs right now

1)You have to start at the end to find where you should begin. 

When we’re prioritizing, it’s too hard to sort through and make assessments about all the things we “could” do. So we don’t make a decision. We default to “doing all the things” or we spin in circles, analyzing our options from all angles, and ending up exhausted.

When I’m working with a client, I always ask them about outcomes, usually in the form of a question like this:

If you woke up X months from now, and ONE thing had changed in your business, what would that ONE thing be?

Try it. Ask yourself  – start with 3 months.

In your perfect world, what would have changed in your business in 3 months?

When you focus on outcomes, it gives you clarity on the destination. Once you know where you’re headed, you can make a plan to get there.

Here are some examples of an outcome:

My sales have grown

I’m emailing my list and getting more sales

I’ve got more time to do marketing because some tasks are off my plate

2) Make your outcome specific and measurable.

If you’re headed to a vacation rental in a city 500 miles away, would you ask for directions to the city, or would you use the address to get directions that take you all the way to your rental?

You’ll make better decisions when you take the time to get specific about your outcome.
You’ll come closer to achieving your outcome when you find a way to measure your progress.

Here are some examples of how to make outcomes specific and measurable:

Add specifics to your outcome

From: My sales have grown
To: My sales have grown by 10% each month. I’m tracking my sales in a spreadsheet every week.

From: I’m emailing my list and getting more sales

To: My Welcome, Abandoned Cart, and Browse Abandonment flows are complete, and I have sent a campaign every week. I have a spreadsheet to track my campaign sales and I have identified my 4 best campaigns.

From: I’ve got more time to do marketing because some tasks are off my plate

To: I have freed up 2 hours a day. I have a customer service app and I have trained my new Customer Service VA to manage all  customer service inquiries. I have created canned responses and training videos so that my VA has the information she needs to do the job, and we’ll be covered if we have to train someone else on this job.

3) Work in your zone of genius 

Give yourself permission to stop doing all the things. Even though you think you can’t afford to get the help you need, I’m going to encourage you to change how you think about this.

I see too many store owners bogged down and frustrated by tasks that aren’t in their zone of genius.

If you’re hesitant to hire for tasks, I would encourage you to start with “one time” tasks.

These are often set-ups or installations that require a particular set of skills. A few good examples are things like upgrading the theme on your store, or custom coding, or migrating to a new email provider, or setting up the framework for email automations.

Before you hire someone to do a task, you must understand the outcome you want, and have a clear picture of what a good result looks like.

Remind yourself that you don’t have unlimited time or unlimited energy. Like money, time and energy are resources. When you spend them doing work that is not in your zone of genius, or that you’re not even good at, you’re spending your high value resources on work that you’re not qualified to do.

It’s like hiring the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to rewire your house.

Remember this when you’re facing overwhelm:

Give yourself permission to slash your to-do list. You’ll be more effective, you’ll make measurable progress, and you’ll feel better about how you spend your time.

• When you’re deciding on your priorities, ask yourself, “What does my business need right now”.
• Focus on specific, measurable outcomes, and use them to decide what your business needs.

Work in your zone of genius as much as you can. Wasting time is more expensive than wasting money.

RELATED LINKS:

This Blog Post and Podcast will show you how to budget for this:
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-to-have-more-cash-in-your-business-episode-164/

 

 

Get the details on this week’s episode:

The magic of transforming debt into profit with Ciara Stockeland

I’m excited to introduce you to Ciara, a brilliant mind who’s become a superstar for many in our Inner Circle community. She’s a pro at guiding e-commerce store owners out of the murky waters of debt and into the realm of profitability. Many of us struggle silently with financial challenges, but Ciara wants to flip that script. Her insights have transformed so many of our members’ businesses, and her advice might help you redefine your approach to your online store’s finances.

Click HERE to listen to the interview, or keep scrolling to learn how having a profit plan can change everything for your business.

The Debt Dilemma

Does this sound familiar? You’ve built a business and learned how to generate sales, things are humming along, but you still find yourself struggling financially, barely making a living wage, or worse, not paying yourself at all. You’re left feeling like an imposter – successful on the outside, but privately failing, especially when it feels like one misstep could take you out altogether.

But what you might not even know is that this is totally solvable. In fact, the most valuable thing you can do for yourself in this situation is to identify what is causing the breakdown. Recognizing and addressing your financial challenges is a little like finding a missing piece in a puzzle. Once you identify where your bucket is leaking, the complete picture of your business’s health becomes clearer, so you can get closer to stability.

 Why Profit Beats Sales

The first and most important mindset shift Ciara advocates is to shift your focus from sales to profit goals. While setting and meeting high revenue goals may feel good and seem impressive, what truly matters is how much of that revenue you retain as profit. Having a million-dollar business is meaningless if the profit isn’t there.  And no one talks about this. You only ever hear people bragging about their “multi six-figure businesses,” never about their 5% net profit increase. It’s time we celebrate actual financial success, not just the illusion of it!

Scaling Up Your Sales (And Your Problems)

Often, online store owners say they can’t think about profit until they get more sales. But without a profit plan, merely increasing sales won’t resolve underlying issues. Ciara recently encountered a business owner considering expansion to solve her cash flow problem, without recognizing that bigger sales would only make her existing problems bigger.

 

So many store owners end up feeling like the store owns THEM. And then they’re stuck. But having a profit plan can prevent a business from being trapped by its own growth.

 

When you focus on profitability instead of revenue, you find both financial freedom AND peace of mind.

When Should I Focus On Profit?

The best time to prioritize profitability was yesterday. The second best time is now. In the entrepreneurial world we hear so much “wisdom” that just isn’t true. That you won’t be profitable for 5 years, or that you should re-invest your profit instead of paying yourself. Why would you ever assume you’re going to take a loss for 5 years if you didn’t have to? Why not assume both you and the business will do well?

 

It’s never too early, and it’s never too late to focus on making your business financially successful, by analyzing and adjusting your financial strategies NOW.

 

Whether you’re just starting out and wondering where your next sale will come from or have been in business for a while and making hundreds of thousands, it’s critical to aim for profitability starting now.

Profit & Loss, Demystified

A Profit and Loss (P&L) statement can be simplified by viewing it as five main categories or “buckets.” These include:

• Sales
• Cost Of Goods Sold
• Gross Margin (Sales minus COGS)
• Expenses
• Profit

It’s really just simple math. For example, Ciara recently met with an ecommerce boutique owner who just started, and she was frustrated because despite consistently having $5k months, she was $1k in the hole every month. When they looked at the buckets, it was the margin that was too low to make the math work. So the next step was to look at the pricing and product mix. Could she raise prices and set slightly higher sales goals? Once she identified the problem, the solution was fairly simple.

By focusing on these 5 buckets and their relationship, you can pinpoint where your store may be underperforming, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to enhance your profit.

Money Mondays

Ciara recommends a “Money Monday” routine, taking just 15 minutes to review last week’s sales and costs of goods, inputting them into a spreadsheet to calculate the gross margin. This practice helps you understand your financial health weekly (instead of however infrequently you actually sit down to look at your numbers), and gives you back control over your finances. By looking straight at your cash flow, the steps you need to take become clear.

 Benchmarking for Success: What’s Your Margin Goal?

When establishing profit goals for e-commerce or brick-and-mortar stores, particularly for those new to this, Ciara says to aim for a 60% gross margin and a 20% net profit. These targets are benchmarks to strive for, understanding that it might take months or years to achieve them, depending on individual business circumstances. If you’re dealing with debt, your net profit might need to exceed 20%. Adjust as necessary, depending on your financial situation, but these figures provide a solid starting point for setting your profit goals.

Finding Your Financial Guru

Ciara didn’t start out a money magician. Once upon a time she was a boutique owner with VERY messy books, and a loose grasp on profit. She found her Financial Guru in the form of Randy, a fractional CFO who helped her most by creating a completely judgment-free zone. And so she knows firsthand that the process of sorting out your finances can be painful. You’ll have to make hard choices.

Ciara says that every single store owner who comes to her is interested in eliminating debt, but they’re not necessarily committed. It’s that commitment to success that earns you the biggest reward of all – financial freedom. No matter what challenges or opportunities arise, you have the freedom to make the best choice for yourself.

This profit-first approach offers a clear, actionable path for e-commerce entrepreneurs looking to secure their financial freedom and peace of mind. Whether you’re struggling with debt or just hoping to earn a bigger paycheck, Ciara’s method can help you get there.

Take your next step toward financial clarity by checking out Ciara’s website HERE.

RELATED LINKS:

Ciara’s Website: ciarastockeland.com

A Profit First Expert Shares How To Manage Inventory

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/a-profit-first-expert-shares-how-to-manage-inventory-episode-82/

Do This Now And Be More Profitable

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/do-this-now-and-be-more-profitable-episode-204/

Will You Take Charge And Pay Yourself More?

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/gross-profit-will-you-take-charge-and-pay-yourself-more-episode-188/

Pricing To Maximize Profit

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/pricing-to-maximize-profit-episode-167/

 

 

How to add recurring revenue to your business

Way back in late 2016 I thought it would be a great idea to start a membership. I called it the Inner Circle, and it was for people like me. Ecommerce store owners who were trying to grow their sales.

I opened the membership to about 70 people. I did it because I thought it would be the easiest way to offer support and teach them what I had learned the hard way.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. It just about killed me, and 5 months after I started, I was ready to close the doors.

What I know now is that a Membership is a great way to provide ongoing training and support.

The truth is that I was doing it wrong.

In early 2017 a friend recommended I follow Stu McLaren, because he knows how to set up a Membership program that really works for the students, and doesn’t almost kill you, lol.

I followed Stu, joined his program, and learned how to build an amazing Membership program.

That was almost 7 years ago. Since then, we’ve taught thousands of store owners how to grow a profitable eCommerce business, and the Inner Circle has generated millions of dollars in revenue.  We have an amazing team of 20 women. I’m so proud of how they help our members make progress, and I am thrilled to be able to pay them very well, and provide a flexible workplace.

I’m sharing this with you because a few years ago I realized that what I have learned about memberships for services can also be applied to eCommerce stores.

In fact, eCommerce store owners can set up memberships that generate enough revenue to pay their bills every single month.

I’m sure you can imagine what’s possible when you have thousands of dollars of recurring revenue coming into your business every single month.

If you’d like to learn more – watch this conversation I had with Stu McLaren about how eCommerce store owners like you are implementing profitable Memberships right now.

If you prefer to listen, click here.

RELATED LINKS:

Register here to get the free workshop: Turn What You Already Know, Love, And Do Into A Profitable Membership Business
https://membershipworkshop.com?ref=ftlmi

The workshop starts April 4th and runs through April 12th

That Time I Did Something Desperate

The road to ecommerce success is lonely. I know there are probably days when you feel like you’re never going to reach your goals, and you don’t have anyone nearby who understands what you’re going through, or who can give you words of advice or encouragement.

That’s why today I wanted to share a story that might just change your day.

Listen to the podcast HERE or keep scrolling for the good, the bad, and the ugly that I know you’ll relate to.

The Desperate Act That Turned Everything Around

Back in 2014 I purchased a toddler shoe company called Wee Squeak. And at the time the business relied heavily on attending trade shows, taking wholesale pre-orders, and shipping huge containers full of product to the US. It was incredibly expensive, and after a while I decided I wanted to let go of the wholesale side of the business.

It was a hard decision to make, but I just didn’t see a way to move the business forward the way we were going. Only problem was, all that was left was our website and it was far from generating the revenue we needed to stay afloat.

To cut expenses we moved out of our 15,000 sq ft. warehouse and transitioned to working with a 3PL (third party fulfillment) which significantly reduced our overhead, but I still had a LOT of shoes to move and bills to pay.

At the time I hadn’t the faintest idea how to run Facebook Ads, but I did know that I needed to figure it out FAST if I was going to sell these shoes. I felt pretty confident that if I could just build an email list, I’d be ok. But how to get people to my website? Facebook seemed like the answer.

 

So I signed up for three different Facebook Ads courses. Not all at once; I did them one at a time, diligently following all the steps.

Not. A. Single. One. Worked.

 

Huge failure. I was so frustrated, I even named one of my test campaigns “Please Work” like a child, because I was desperate. (It didn’t work.)

I kept going only because I had no other options. And eventually, methodically testing and iterating and following what seemed to be working, I figured it out. Low and behold, our sad little list of 3k grew to 18,000 in a year. It was rough, but I finally gained the confidence that I could make this happen. And I could even teach others how to make it work, too.

And that’s how Reliable Revenue was born.

I’m sharing this because I want you to understand that you’re going to learn the most valuable lessons by actually doing things. When you start, it might not go well—even the 20th attempt might be tough. But persistence and paying attention will eventually lead to success. I’m telling you this from my experience transitioning from a brick-and-mortar wholesale business to an online-only store, despite not being tech-savvy. It’s about having grit and doing much more than you initially think is necessary. This journey is normal, and you can succeed just like I did.

 

Remember, you ARE intelligent and capable of solving problems.

 

My own learning curve took three years, but that’s exactly why I’m here. To help you fast-track your process and get there quicker than I did. Even if you haven’t joined our Reliable Revenue program, you can still make significant progress

This year’s Reliable Revenue course just kicked off and I know a lot of you just weren’t able to make it work. If that’s you, I’ve outlined four steps for you to follow over the next year, and I’m confident that if you commit to these actions, you’ll see a remarkable transformation in your business.

1. Commit to emailing your list at least once a week for a whole year.

Get over yourself. Just do it. It won’t be perfect. It might be ugly, but just email your list weekly and include a “Call To Action” (CTA) that brings people back to your site. It can be a button, or hyperlinked text, or both…just give them ONE thing to do, and that’s click through to your site. Whether it’s a product page, blog post, or collection. You don’t have to narrate the entire story in the email; give them a reason to click through. If people choose to unsubscribe, that’s okay. The key is consistency. By maintaining this routine for 52 weeks, you’ll gain valuable insights into what resonates with your audience.

2. Commit to partnering with an e-commerce peer for a monthly collaboration.

You don’t need a big agenda, just celebrate each other as small business owners. Send your subscribers to their site, and they’ll send their subscribers to yours.  Invite your readers to sign up for their pop-up.

Listen to this episode of the podcast to get some inspiration:
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/a-year-of-results-that-will-shock-you-episode-120/

Then track your results. Web visitors, emails collected. Repeat this monthly to build momentum and broaden your network.

3. Make Data Your Bestie

For Inner Circle members (non-members can find helpful information in our podcast episodes, which I’ll link at the bottom of this post), focus on building your sales funnel, tracking audience size, website visitors, conversion rates, and sales. This tracking is truly 50% of your way to success. You’ve got classroom resources and monthly calls to assist with this.

4. Gift yourself one call with the same coach every single month

Share your goals and your sales funnel every month, and ask that Coach for ONE strategy to grow – whether it’s grow your sales, grow audience, or grow traffic, each and every month. Working consistently with the same coach will allow you to make faster progress because they will get to know your business, and you’re not constantly having to bring them up to speed.

If a call is not in your budget, go into “Get Sales Now” in your classroom and choose a monthly sales event, aiming for 12 events by year-end.

And if you’re not in the Inner Circle, I want you to run some sort of promotion in your emails and on social media that actually asks people for a sale once a month. And what I know is if you do these four things for 52 weeks, I know that your business is going to be in a different place next year.

Do these 4 things for an entire year, and I PROMISE you will be ready for Reliable Revenue next year.

You’ll feel so much more confident, and you’re going to have a whole year of results under your belt.

I’m encouraging you to focus on what’s essential and commit to these steps, as they will significantly benefit you and bring peace of mind. Don’t go chasing after shiny objects – buckle down and do the work.

And that’s all for now. I hope you found this information useful. I’d appreciate any feedback on social media and would love to know if you’re planning to implement these steps!

RELATED LINKS:

A Year Of Collaborations

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/a-year-of-results-that-will-shock-you-episode-120/

The Powerful Work That Will Get You To Your Goals

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-powerful-work-that-will-get-you-to-your-goals-episode-159/

 

 

Today I’m so excited to introduce you to our newest Foundations Coach in the Inner Circle, Chontelle Fossey. Like all of our ecommerce coaches, Chontelle was once an Inner Circle member. It really warms my heart that our coaches first came to the group to solve the same challenges that our members have, used our training to grow their businesses, and are now committed to helping others to succeed.

Tap HERE to listen to the interview, or keep reading to hear Chontelle’s top tips for building a strong foundation in your ecommerce business.

From Inner Circle Member to Business Growth Guru

Chontelle sells houseplants online from her home base in New Zealand. Since her market is fairly small, and she doesn’t have access to existing platforms like Etsy, she has always relied on selling directly from her own website. So it’s been extra important to her to drive traffic to her website with a paid social media strategy.

Chontelle had joined several ecommerce courses over the years, but found her home in the Inner Circle because of our focus on building a strong foundation. She learned that having a structured plan to follow, plus expert coaches that she could reach out to with questions or problems, really fast-tracked her success. And she loves being able to pay it forward now as a coach herself!

Finding Your Audience With Ads Made Easy

Chontelle kicked off 2024 by guiding our members through our social media ads workshop. Ads Made Easy is a very thorough and effective testing method to identify and target your ideal audience of buyers using social media ads. It’s all about identifying the fastest, cheapest way to find your ideal people, so that you can feel like social media is working for YOU, not the other way around.

 

“Once you’ve done the [Ads Made Easy] testing, it’s almost a set and forget exercise where you have this evergreen ad at a really ridiculously low cost per day.”

 

So for just a few dollars a day, you can quickly “fill your bucket” as we say, with a huge audience of people who are going to be really excited about your product. At the foundational level, our #1 priority is to keep that top of your sales funnel constantly filled with a large number of the right people. You don’t do it once and move on, you have to always have this “tap” running in the background to keep your bucket full.

One Month Of Testing Saves Several Months of Spend

Chontelle is a believer in sticking to the plan and committing to at least a full month of Ads Made Easy testing because it can save so much money later on.

 

“If you cut corners, then those people aren’t going to necessarily be your people. So it’s going to cost you more to bring them to your website because you haven’t done the testing to get the lowest cost possible.”

 

She teaches a holistic approach to tracking campaign performance, using Google Analytics (aka GA4) to measure results against the Meta Ads Manager. She really digs into the data to analyze audience quality, tracking metrics like time on site. A high bounce rate or low time on site can indicate that more testing is needed, and that even though your ads might be getting traffic to your site cheaply, it’s not the kind of traffic that will actually buy from you.

Marching (Slowly) Toward Conversion

Another reason Chontelle is such a believer in Ads Made Easy testing is that this top of funnel ad is not going to get sales. It’s going to provide a very large pool of potential customers that you will re-target later on. So if you aren’t attracting the right people up front, you’ll waste a lot of time and money later trying to persuade them to buy when they were never interested to begin with. Driving traffic isn’t cheap, so putting the work in early on to identify the right audience pays dividends further down the funnel.

The #1 Ads Mistake Store Owners Make

Chontelle has found that when first starting out, lots of people are impatient with their tests and include too many variables at once. And when they throw too many elements into the mix, it’s virtually impossible to identify what is working and what isn’t. The process is (and should be) slow and methodical – testing one variable at a time, completing one test before moving on to the next.

Roadmap For Success: Slow Down To Speed Up

Chontelle tells us that to successfully build a solid foundation for your ecommerce store, you have to take it slow, follow the lessons one at a time, and don’t cut corners. Give yourself time to implement the strategies and don’t allow yourself to get distracted.

 

“There are so many shiny objects in front of us all of the time that it is really easy for us to go off on this tangent and go over here and look at this.”

 

Attempting to learn too much at once keeps you right where you are. You start doubting yourself, wondering if there’s something wrong with your site, and falling down rabbit holes. Whereas making slow, steady progress compounds over time, and ultimately fast-tracks your success.

Chontelle attributes her store’s meteoric success to following the Inner Circle method in this slow, methodical way. In fact, she was able to leave her “day job” and dedicate 100% of her time to her own business.

By embodying patience, attention to detail, and a willingness to learn and apply, Chontelle has not only elevated her own business but now dedicates part of her time to helping others in the Inner Circle. If you’re a member in need of help with the basics, book a call with her! You can also learn more about our foundational programs in the links below.

RELATED LINKS:

Chontelle’s website: https://thelilypot.co.nz/

Episode 123 – Ads Made Easy

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/10x-your-audience-in-the-next-30-days-episode-123/

The Secret Way To Make Big Progress With Chontelle Fossey

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-secret-way-to-make-big-progress-with-chontelle-fossey-episode-124/

Build A Massive Audience With A Brand Video

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/build-a-massive-audience-with-a-brand-video-episode-162/

 

Seven Habits Of High-Performing Store Owners

As I sit down to write this, I’m about to embark on an 8 week journey with a group of fellow ecommerce entrepreneurs on our annual Reliable Revenue course. It’s a unique journey compared to our ongoing Inner Circle membership (where the trainings are regularly updated to reflect the changing landscape of ecommerce) , because it will be two months of very focused and intensive work. Students implement the strategies weekly, and by the end of 8 weeks they’ve put in place a system that consistently drives revenue to their online stores so that they can focus less on selling, and more on what they need to grow their businesses.

And so this year I’ve really been pondering how to empower our members to maximize their success. What I’ve learned in the past 15 years of teaching is that there are a handful of habits that seem to really predict whether a store will thrive.  And these aren’t advanced tactics, they’re habits that every single one of us can build, regardless of our stage in business.

So I’m really excited to share these with you. The following insights are meant to help you, and especially our Reliable Revenue participants. Apply them strategically to your e-commerce endeavors and your ROI will continue to grow.

Listen to the podcast HERE or scroll down to get the seven transformative habits that can propel your ecommerce business to the next level.

Habit 1: Attention to Detail 

The first difference I see between store owners who get a lot out of this training, and those who seem to be just treading water, is attention to detail. They intentionally set aside time to watch the lessons, and make sure that they implement the training that week. And they don’t multitask while doing it; they set themselves up for success by giving themselves the time and space to focus on one thing at a time, and get the work done. They finish that one thing, and make sure it’s done right, before they move onto the next.

Habit 2: Manage Expectations

Success is a marathon, not a sprint. The first time you try anything new, it’s never going to be your best outcome. And it’s probably the case that anything in life that you’ve achieved and felt very proud of didn’t happen overnight, and wasn’t handed to you on a silver platter. You put one foot in front of the other, persisted through challenges, and little by little achieved your goals.

When I say that a key habit to success is “managing expectations,” I mean both mentally and monetarily. Nobody likes to talk about it, but building a successful online business costs money. And it just isn’t realistic to think that you’re going to get a return on that investment in a matter of weeks. There will be times when you feel like you’re losing money – and you might be – but that’s part of the process. Running out of patience, or feeling like you’ve failed because your store isn’t further along after three years, is generally a symptom of poorly managed expectations.

 

When you accept that the road to achieving your goals may be long and winding, you’re better able to enjoy the little wins along the way. It’s about trusting the process and knowing that every step, no matter how small, is a step forward in your journey.

 

Habit 3: Break It Down To Beat Overwhelm

Even the most overwhelming projects become manageable when divided into smaller, bite-sized pieces. The truth is, when we take on big projects in our businesses, we may not even be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But that shouldn’t stand in the way of getting started. When you find yourself spinning in circles are unable to move forward because the task seems so big – break it down into more manageable pieces.

For example, which seems more doable: building a welcome email series, or deciding how many emails should go in a welcome series? The latter, right? It’s just a decision. And once you’ve made a decision, the next step will become much clearer. So the next time you sit down to do something that’s big and scary, don’t try to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

Habit 4: Define Success

This is a big one, and so many people don’t do this. When you don’t take the time to define what success looks like, it’s a little like getting in the car and driving without a destination. So your first question shouldn’t be “how do I do this?” it should be “what do I want this to look like when it’s done?”.

By defining your end goal, you create a roadmap that guides your decisions and strategies, ensuring every effort is aligned with your ultimate objective. Like a beacon, a clear definition of success will keep you focused and driven even when you encounter obstacles.

Habit 5: Be a Problem Solver

Life is full of mysteries, but one thing you can count on is that you will run into obstacles. You are guaranteed to come across some challenge that you think is too hard for you.

But successful store owners don’t immediately seek help at the first sign of trouble. They do the heavy lifting themselves. For example, if you’re watching a Reliable Revenue training, and you feel lost halfway through, pause for a moment, then keep watching until the end. Make notes, jot down your questions, take a deep breath, and then watch again. Stop and start the lesson if you need to and break it down into steps. Each time you’re able to solve some of your own problems, you build confidence and faith in yourself.

Search Google if you have to, even if it’s a technical thing that seems beyond you. Finding a YouTube How-To video and learning how to do something yourself that you never thought you could is empowering. Whereas getting outside help immediately can lead to feeling that you’re dependent on someone else to move you forward. Successful store owners take responsibility for their own success.

Habit 6: Be Tenacious

Time and time again, I see store owners quit too soon. They say they’ve “tried everything” but in reality they’ve tried something for a few weeks, gotten discouraged, and abandoned that strategy for a new one. They swear it just didn’t work for them, when their only mistake was giving it too little time. 

But if they had just stuck with that first thing for three months instead of three weeks, they might have really gotten the hang of it and started to see results. When you quit too soon, you end up wasting a lot of time and learning nothing. 

So give yourself some grace, and don’t give up so easily. Learning something new takes time, but when you’re tenacious you keep adding tools to your toolbox. 

Habit 7: Master Before You Multiply

This one is hard for so many people. But remember – you’re not born with habits, you build them.

The last habit is to master one thing before you move on to the next. You’re so much better off making what you already have perform at 100% than leaving it at 70 and adding something else into the mix. When you allow yourself to pause and perfect, you build  a strong foundation that will support your business’s future growth and resilience.

This is why so many Reliable Revenue alumni come back and do the course every year. They’re refining their systems. They know it works, but they’re committed to making it better rather than leaving it on autopilot and moving on. There are a lot of ways to win the race, but I guarantee that if you don’t pause and perfect 1 or 2 things that are working for you, you’ll end up with a lot of underperforming strategies and the terrible feeling that you missed out on your golden egg.

To Recap:

The 7 Habits of Successful Store Owners

1. Take the time to do the work, and focus on it 100%
2. Learn to manage your expectations, and celebrate small wins along the way
3. Break big projects down into smaller, more manageable pieces
4. Define what success looks like before you start
5. Build confidence by becoming a problem solver
6. Don’t quit too soon
7. Perfect one thing before you move on to the next

These seven habits are more than just practices; they’re the building blocks of a successful e-commerce business. Embrace these 7 winning habits and watch your business soar.

RELATED LINKS:

Want Better Results? Do This First.

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/want-better-results-do-this-first-episode-128/

How Long Will It Take You To Reach Your Goals?

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-long-will-it-take-to-reach-your-goals-episode-203/

Here’s What To Do Differently In 2024

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/heres-what-to-do-differently-next-year-episode-195/

How To Reach Your BIG Goals This Year

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/2024-how-to-reach-your-big-goals-this-year-episode-197/