8 Lessons From 150+ eCom Brands (That’ll Save You Millions)

Hey, it’s Patrick from TVG.

After working with over 150 brands across four years and $100M+ in tracked revenue, I noticed something wild:

Whether you’re doing $1M or $20M a year — everyone struggles with the same silent killers of profit.

These lessons aren’t theory.

They’re what separates the brands that scale sustainably from the ones that stall out and burn.

Watch the Full Breakdown (YouTube Training)👇

1. Creative Is Always the Bottleneck

No matter your size — creative will slow you down if you don’t systemize it.

Winning brands test 3–10 new creatives weekly using a mix of UGC, founder videos, and high-quality statics.

The goal? Creative diversity.

Because when your ads fatigue before your next batch is ready — your growth dies.

Creative isn’t art. It’s a system.

2. Paid Media Is Still Guesswork for 90% of Brands

Even at $500K/month, we’ve audited ad accounts that are a total mess — random structures, no testing frameworks, no iteration logs.

If you’re not tracking your tests, you’re not learning.

And if you’re not learning, you’re not scaling.

Every dollar should test a hypothesis.

Otherwise, you’re spending emotionally — not scientifically.

3. “Premium” Brands Often Trap Themselves

Founders say things like, “We don’t want to use UGC or iPhone content — it’s off-brand.”

But guess what? The best-performing “premium” ads are raw, emotional, and real.

Authenticity scales. Aesthetics don’t.

Stop hiding behind polish.

Emotion beats perfection.

4. Disconnected Teams = Broken Growth Engines

If your paid, email, and creative teams don’t talk, you’re leaking money.

Your ads launch, but retention doesn’t know the offer.

Creative makes assets in a vacuum.

Nobody shares learnings.

Growth happens when every channel feeds the next —

creative informs paid, paid fuels email, email drives insights for new creative.

That’s when scale compounds.

5. Founders Stay in the Weeds Too Long

You can’t scale while approving every ad and reviewing every campaign.

The shift from operator → orchestrator is painful but necessary.

You need systems that run without you —

SOPs, team autonomy, and smart hires.

You’re not running ads anymore.

You’re running people.

6. Retention = The Hidden Profit Lever

Most brands generate only 10–15% of revenue from email/SMS.

Top performers hit 35–40%.

Because ads acquire customers; retention makes you rich.

Every dollar spent acquiring should echo through flows, campaigns, and segmentation.

If it doesn’t, you’re leaking profit.

7. Most Brands Are Scaling on Bad Data

If you’re only looking at ROAS, you’re lying to yourself.

We track:

→ True new customer acquisition cost

→ Marketing efficiency ratio

→ Contribution margin

→ LTV & lifetime gross profit

That’s the only way to see if you’re actually growing — or just spending more to make the same.

8. Systems > Strategy

Most agencies push buttons.

The best ones build systems.

When we work with brands, we focus on four pillars —

C.O.R.E. Growth:

→ Converting creative

→ Omnichannel paid media

→ Retention systems

→ Expansion forecasting

Because scaling isn’t about running ads.

It’s about building a machine that runs itself.

I break down all 8 lessons — with real examples and dashboards — in this week’s YouTube training:

🎬 “8 Hidden Profit Killers Stopping Your E-Commerce Brand From Scaling (and How to Fix Them)”

→ Watch the full video here

You’ll see how each system works, what to fix first, and how to build your growth engine step-by-step.

If You’re Ready to Build a Scalable Growth System

Before we pitch any strategy, we audit your brand through the C.O.R.E. Growth Audit.

In 30 minutes, we’ll uncover your biggest bottlenecks —

and show you how to scale profitably with data and systems.

→ Book Your Free Audit Here

Scaling isn’t about working harder.

It’s about building smarter systems that compound.

Talk soon,

Patrick

Co-Founder & CEO, TVG