How a Struggling eCommerce Store Became Cash Positive in 90 Days
How a Struggling eCommerce Store Became Cash Positive in 90 Days
Three months ago, Jordan’s online store was on the verge of shutting down.
What started as a promising Shopify venture quickly turned into a daily grind of low traffic, poor conversions, and mounting expenses. Ads weren’t converting, the inbox was full of refund requests, and every sale seemed to come at a loss.
Fast forward 90 days, and the store was not only covering its costs but generating consistent, positive cash flow.
Here’s the exact roadmap Jordan followed to make it happen.
Step 1: Get Clear on the Real Numbers
Jordan stopped guessing. He pulled reports from Shopify, Google Analytics, and his payment processor to understand precisely what was happening.
What he discovered:
70% of his ad spend was driving zero sales
His average order value (AOV) was too low to sustain profit
Shipping costs and return rates were eating his margins
Repeat customers were almost nonexistent
Facing the numbers hurt—but it gave him clarity. He wasn’t failing because the product sucked; he was failing because the business wasn’t structured to scale profitably.
Step 2: Simplify the Offer and Cut the Waste
First, Jordan paused all paid ads and re-evaluated his offer.
He narrowed his product catalogue from 62 items down to 14 bestsellers—products with high margins, low return rates, and strong reviews. He also:
Ditched expensive upsell apps that weren’t converting
Switched to a cheaper fulfilment partner with better delivery times
Removed free shipping on all low-ticket orders
Focused messaging around one main product with a clear value proposition
Fewer distractions meant better conversions and fewer headaches.
Step 3: Leverage Organic Traffic Like a Pro
Instead of dumping more money into Meta or TikTok ads, Jordan leaned into organic marketing:
Built a simple but high-converting email welcome series using Klaviyo
Started posting daily short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels showing the product in real-life situations
Created user-generated content (UGC) campaigns and offered store credit for video reviews
Added a blog with SEO-focused content targeting long-tail keywords related to his niche
Within weeks, organic traffic improved. But more importantly, email captured those visitors and converted them over time.
Step 4: Focus on Cash Flow, Not Just Sales
Jordan realised that revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, and cash is king.
He made a few strategic shifts:
Bundled products to increase AOV without raising CAC
Introduced limited-time pre-orders with upfront payment
Offered a “Subscribe & Save” model to lock in repeat business
Used tools like Klarna to allow instalment purchases—but got paid immediately
He tracked cash daily using a simple Google Sheet. Every decision—from app installs to discounts—was made based on its cash impact, not hype.
Step 5: Build a 90-Day Game Plan
Jordan didn’t wing it. He built a simple 90-day action plan with specific focus areas each month:
Month 1: Audit everything, slash waste, optimise product pages
Month 2: Lean into organic content, build email flows, relaunch product bundles
Month 3: Relaunch paid ads slowly with retargeting, incentivise referrals, and double down on what’s working
Every week, he measured KPIs: conversion rate, CAC, AOV, return rate, repeat customer rate, and—most importantly—cash on hand.
The Result?
On Day 86, Jordan hit a major milestone: more cash in than out.
He wasn’t getting rich overnight, but he no longer felt like he was drowning. The business was running lean, efficiently, and with purpose. Traffic was climbing, conversion rates had nearly doubled, and 25% of customers were coming back within 30 days.
