From Growth Surge to Profit Pivot
Our Two-Month Rollercoaster (and podcast episode #19)...
Hey there,
If you've been following our Dr. Barry's journey, you know we're all about sharing the real story – not just the highlight reel. So here's what happened across February and March...
February was a month that had us feeling like maybe we'd cracked the code:
10% growth on both Amazon and Shopify
$25,000 in total revenue
On pace for 20% month-over-month growth
The big breakthrough? Our "Perpetual Sales Machine" strategy was finally clicking. Instead of pouring money into Amazon PPC ($1,000/month), we shifted $9,000+ into off-Amazon traffic: Google ads directing to problem-focused blog posts, UGC content, and Facebook campaigns.
The result? People weren't just finding us through random Amazon searches – they were specifically searching for "Dr. Barry's" by name. Our brand campaigns became our top-performing keywords.
Travis was pumped. I was cautiously optimistic. Things were looking up.
Then March happened…
Our review average slipped from 4.0 to 3.7 stars, which meant Amazon displayed us with 3.5 stars instead of 4. That half-star visual difference changed everything.
The numbers tell the painful story:
Week 1: $864 profit
Week 2: Plummeted to $235 profit (ouch!)
Then we made a tough call: drastic ad budget cuts
Weeks 3-4: Profit rebounded to $1,200-1,300
Yes, our weekly revenue dropped from $7K to around $5K. But our monthly profit jumped to $3,600.
This gets at something I've been wrestling with: Are we building a business or chasing vanity metrics? Would I rather have a $30K/month business losing money or a $20K/month business generating consistent profit?
As we hit our one-year ownership anniversary on March 20th, this pivot is actually giving us clarity. Instead of fighting an uphill battle with products that have review challenges, we're:
Optimizing what works
Banking profits
Developing a third product (from the original 20 formulations) that could be the true hero this brand needs
For all you e-commerce operators out there: Sometimes the best growth strategy isn't doubling down on what's struggling. It's stepping back, securing profitability, and building the next growth engine.
Want the full breakdown of both months' numbers and our strategic shift? Travis gets into the full details in our latest podcast episode.
http://podcast.weboughtabrand.com/
Until next time,
Deacon
P.S. Has your business ever experienced this kind of two-month rollercoaster? I'd love to hear how you navigated it. Hit reply!