5 Mistakes Every Ecommerce Founder Makes in Their First Year

The first year of building an ecommerce brand is the most exciting and the most dangerous.

You’re full of ideas, energy and motivation. You’ve either launched or you’re getting close. But you’re also making decisions every day that will shape whether your business grows or stalls.

At Gro, we work directly with product-based founders in their early stages. And across all niches, all industries and all experience levels, the same five mistakes show up again and again.

If you can avoid these, you give yourself a real chance to grow a business that lasts.

Mistake 1: Waiting Too Long to Launch

Most founders think they need the perfect product, perfect brand or perfect packaging before they go live.

So they spend months tinkering with labels, colours or website themes and put off the one thing that actually matters — getting their product in front of real people.

The truth is, your early buyers don’t care about perfection. They care about whether your product solves their problem.

What to do instead:
Launch an MVP. Start with a basic version of your product or a pre-order page. You can always upgrade later. The goal is to test demand, not impress strangers.

Mistake 2: Trying Every Marketing Channel at Once

You see other brands on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. So you try to be everywhere too.

But early on, this spreads you thin. You’re creating loads of content, spending hours a week, and getting almost nothing back.

Most founders don’t need more reach. They need more focus.

What to do instead:
Use the Bullseye Framework to pick three promising channels. Test each one with a real experiment, then double down on the one that performs best.

One good channel is enough to start growing.

Mistake 3: Building Before Talking to Customers

Founders love creating. So they jump into product development, branding and websites without ever speaking to the people they want to sell to.

Then they wonder why people aren’t buying. It’s usually because they built something for themselves, not for the market.

What to do instead:
Do Customer Discovery. Speak to ten people in your target audience. Ask about their frustrations, what they’ve tried before and how they make buying decisions.

Every hour you spend talking to real customers saves ten hours fixing things later.

Mistake 4: Pricing for Themselves, Not the Market

It’s easy to underprice your product because you want to make it affordable or “feel fair.” But this usually leads to razor-thin margins, stress and burnout.

It also signals that your product is low value, which turns buyers away.

What to do instead:
Price based on the value you deliver and what the market is already paying. If your product solves a painful problem or offers something unique, it can command a higher price.

Your goal is not to be the cheapest. Your goal is to be the most trusted solution.

Mistake 5: Measuring the Wrong Metrics

Many founders get excited by likes, views or followers. But those numbers don’t pay the bills.

You might have a viral video, but if it doesn’t lead to sales, it’s just noise.

What to do instead:
Track real signals of intent. Focus on:

Email sign-ups
Add-to-cart events
Conversion rates
Repeat purchases

These numbers tell you what’s working. They help you grow with clarity, not confusion.

Bonus: Believing They Need More Before They Start

This one holds more founders back than any other. The belief that you need more time, more money, more followers or more skills before you begin.

It’s not true. You need to start. That’s where the learning happens.

Most successful ecommerce brands started scrappy. They launched with imperfect products, made mistakes and figured it out by listening to customers.

At Gro, we help founders move forward with what they have. We’ve seen side hustlers build real momentum using only a smartphone, Canva and one good idea.

You are more ready than you think.