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That moment when a stranger gives you their money for something that you made, resourced or created something, that's. That's the moment when the entire game changes. It doesn't matter if it's one sale, doesn't matter if it's 50, it doesn't matter. The first time a stranger buys from you is the moment when you stop being someone that wanted to have a business or thinking about starting a business to someone who actually has a business. Hey there. I'm Cody McGuffey. I'm a husband dad of three and I'm the founder of Ever Be Everbee. Ever Be Everbee, where we serve over a million creators across the globe, helping them grow thriving online businesses. I believe every single human is a creator and I believe every single creator should own a business, a business that gives them the freedom to build the life that they dream of. Built Online is where creators, entrepreneurs and leaders get real insights, real stories and the edge to build something that actually lasts. This is where the next generation builders get built. How much can you actually grow an online store in your first 30 days? I've watched thousands of brand new stores go through their first month and the answer is almost never what people would expect. Sometimes it's way less than what they hope for, and sometimes it's way more. So in this video, I want to tell you what actually happens in the real world. Okay? And before we jump in, as a reminder, the Built Online podcast is more than just this podcast. It's more than just this episode. It's a part of Everbee, which is an e commerce tech company serving over a million digital entrepreneurs across the world, helping them generate over 3 billion doll in revenue for their online businesses, which is absolutely bonkers. Super proud of that. And Ever Be has two main products, Ever Be Research, the product research tool that helps you find the best products who sell across the Internet. Where you sell, whether you sell on Amazon or sell on Etsy or any other marketplace or platform, helps you find the best products to be selling, which ones are in demand. And there's Ever Be Store, an AI native e commerce platform where you describe what you sell and it generates your storefront, it generates your marketing flows, your funnel, analytics, all the stuff that you need in order to run a successful online business that is Ever Be Store, whether you sell physical products or digital products, print on demand products, that's where really, really shines, I would say. But the idea is it's digital first types of businesses with no inventory. Okay, that being said, let's jump in. Today we're talking about your first 30 days in E Commerce, what it actually looks like, not the highlight reel, not, not the Instagram, not the TikTok, you know, reel that, that we all see and we all, we all, you know, makes us all click. It's not the million dollars in, in 30 seconds type of video. I want to be honest, all right? The Internet is generally not honest about this. Your first 30 days in E commerce is not going to look like the YouTube thumbnails. They're not going to look like I made $50,000 my first month screenshots. It's not going to look like the success stories that you've been watching. And that's okay. I'm not saying that to discourage you when I'm saying that. Why I'm saying that is because if you go into month one expecting those types of results, you will quit in month two. And the people who quit in month two are the people who would have made it by month seven if you just would've stayed in the game. You see what I mean? So, walking you through what I've personally watched happen across thousands of brand new stores in the first 30 days, okay, I'm going to talk about what's, what's normal, what's a good sign, what's a bad sign, and really what you should be aiming for. Number one, the realistic revenue picture, right? Most brand new stores do somewhere between zero and a few hundred dollars in their first 30 days. That's the median. Okay? That's normal. Some do better. Some of them crush it, crush it, crush it. But a lot of them, they do nothing at all. There's no, there's no revenue at all in month one. Okay? So if you're doing at least one sale or a couple, couple sales in your first 30 days, that's good. You're on track. Okay? If you do $5,000 in your first month, that's a great month. If you do a thousand dollars, that's a good month too. And if you do a hundred dollars, that's a normal month, okay? That's a normal month. If you do zero, that does not mean that you failed. That doesn't mean that E commerce is saturated, doesn't mean that it's a bad business model. It doesn't mean that you suck. It just means that you're still figuring out the levers and what actually matters when growing an online business. And the reason this is so different from what you see online is simple, right? The people posting I made $50,000 my first month are either lying or they're leaving out important context about maybe all the past experiences they've had selling things online or starting new things online too. Maybe they already had an audience. Maybe they already had an email list or a following. Maybe they're one out of a thousand, which is great. Congratulations for them, that's awesome for them. But going into it with that expectation is setting yourself up for disappointment. You're hearing about the outliers on those things, not the average. And the average new store in a month, in a first month is. It's fairly small. And that's completely. Okay. That is the starting point, does not mean that's the finish line. Okay, play the longer game here. I'm always anybody's listening to this podcast, you know, for any amount of time. I tend to think longer, and I suggest that you do too. All my success personally has been because I've always thought a little bit longer than the majority of my counterparts and people listening to this that have been listening for a while and they've had success. It's because they have too. They tend to think a little bit longer, a little bit bigger, a little bit broader time horizon. Number two, what should you actually be seeing happening in month one? Revenue is the wrong thing to be measuring in month one. Almost nobody really tells you that in the first 30 days. You're. What you're actually gonna be doing is you wanna be gathering data. You're not gonna be getting rich, okay? You're not scaling, you're not over optimizing and you're gathering data, okay? You're trying to find out, does anybody click on my ads? Does anybody like my products? Does anybody land on my page? Does anybody even reading it? Is there any feedback there? Did anybody add anything to the cart? Okay, did they actually check out? Why didn't they check out? If not, where do they drop off? Okay, that's the work in month one. Okay? Our end goal is to get a sale 100%. Our end goal is to get a hundred sales. Thousand sales, right? All that is what our goal is, but that's not what we're really optimizing for in month one. I've watched so many new sellers get frustrated in month one because they're not making money. When the entire point of month one is to learn, not necessarily to earn three. What a good month one actually looks like. Here's what I want to see in month one. If I were starting all over, I want at least a thousand people to land on my site. Thousand people. Doesn't matter where they come from could be meta ads, it could be organic, it could be friends and family. Clicking on the link, I. I just want eyeballs, okay? And from those thousand people, I want at least 2% to buy. That's 20 orders. And I would like my average order value to be about $60. Could be 40, could be 30 even. But ideally, my goal is to eventually get to 60 plus. And that being said, I want to also, that's 1,200 in revenue, by the way. Also, I want to be able to get about 4% of those visitors to actually give me their email address. Okay, 4%. So from a thousand visitors, that's 40 emails on my list. And by the end of month three, that list is starting to drive its own revenue. That's a great month one. If someone showed that to me in the first 30 days, I'd be like, you're on something. You have something. Keep going hard, okay? If it's not quite there yet, I'd say, cool. Keep figuring out to try to get those metrics. If you hit those things, you're seeing around those things, you have a real business. You have a real business in front of you. Most people don't realize how close they are, right? Right when they quit. Number four. The trap that most people fall into with month one, the biggest mistake I see in month one is impatience. It's disguised as effort. People launch a store, they run ads for three days. They don't see results. They start changing everything. They get new products, new everything. New ad creative, new landing page, new niche, new offer, new business. Day 15, their store looks completely different than what they did on day one and not, not for the better. And now they have no idea what's working because they change too many variables all at one time. The sellers who win in month one make small focus changes, incrementally focused changes. Okay? Patience in month one is not laziness. It is a skill. People. Probably the most underrated skill, honestly, in this entire game is being patient, hanging in there. 5. What month one is really, for the real point, again, isn't revenue. It is to prove to yourself that this is actually real. Like you actually have something here. Okay? That's when. When you put up a product and someone on the Internet across the world that you've never met actually sees that product and they actually click on it and then they give you their email and then maybe they buy that moment when a stranger gives you your money for something that you made. Gives you their money for something that you made, resourced or created. Something that's that's the moment when the entire game changes. It doesn't matter if it's one sale. Doesn't matter. It's $50. It doesn't matter. The first time a stranger buys from you is the moment when you stop buying. Being someone that you know wanted to have a business or thinking about starting a business to someone who actually has a business. That's what month one is for. Okay? So that being said, I'm gonna wrap it up. If this was helpful, let me know in the comments. Uh, it's the only feedback loop that I've got and it tells me whether I should make more of these things solo episodes, have more guests on there and share with me, you know. What does your first month look like? What did your first month look like? You're later on in the journey. Again, if you're looking to start an online business, check out Everbee. Should be a lot of free resources on there. Hopefully you got value out of this, which is completely a free resource also. And again, let me know if I could help with anything. Anytime. See y' all soon.
Podcast: Built Online
Host: Cody McGuffie
Episode: How Much Can You Actually Grow an Online Store in 30 Days?
Date: May 26, 2026
In this solo episode, Cody McGuffie dives deep into the realities of launching and growing an online store in the first 30 days. Drawing upon his extensive experience observing thousands of new online businesses, Cody challenges common misconceptions about quick success and sets realistic expectations for new e-commerce entrepreneurs. The episode is packed with practical insights, actionable metrics, and encouragement aimed at helping listeners focus on sustainable growth rather than overnight riches.
“That moment when a stranger gives you their money for something that you made, resourced or created… That’s the moment when the entire game changes.” (00:00)
“Most brand new stores do somewhere between zero and a few hundred dollars in their first 30 days… That’s normal.” (04:43)
“The entire point of month one is to learn, not necessarily to earn.” (09:09)
“If someone showed that to me in the first 30 days, I’d be like, you’re on to something. You have something. Keep going hard.” (13:57)
“Patience in month one is not laziness. It is a skill. Probably the most underrated skill, honestly, in this entire game is being patient, hanging in there.” (17:21)
“The first time a stranger buys from you is the moment when you stop being someone that wanted to have a business or thinking about starting a business to someone who actually has a business.” (20:32)
On Expectations:
“If you go into month one expecting those types of results, you will quit in month two. And the people who quit in month two are the people who would have made it by month seven if you just would've stayed in the game.” (06:33)
On Metric Goals:
“From those thousand people, I want at least 2% to buy… And I would like my average order value to be about $60. Also, I want to be able to get about 4% of those visitors to actually give me their email address.” (13:37)
On Patience:
“The sellers who win in month one make small focus changes, incrementally focused changes… Patience in month one is not laziness. It is a skill.” (17:21)
On Validation:
“When you put up a product and someone on the Internet across the world that you've never met actually sees that product and they actually click on it and then they give you their email and then maybe they buy—that's the moment when the entire game changes.” (19:46)
Cody maintains an honest, direct, and encouraging tone, repeatedly pushing back against unrealistic online narratives and providing practical, experience-backed advice for sustainable e-commerce growth. He emphasizes long-term thinking, incremental progress, and the emotional journey from “wannabe” to “actual entrepreneur.”
For more resources and support, listeners are encouraged to visit EverBee and connect with Cody via comments.