When we first started working on this online store, it was doing about $50,000 per year in sales—flat, slightly declining, and mostly reliant on eBay. Over the next four years, we helped generate over $500,000 in total online sales, without external funding, zero ad spend, or agency support. Here’s how we did it.

The Business & Its Challenges

The business sells abrasives—sanding belts, cutting discs, grinding discs, resin fibre discs, and more. While the company itself had a long-standing reputation, its online sales were minimal, accounting for just 10% of the total business revenue. Most of the online sales came from eBay, which meant high fees and little brand control. The website existed, but it wasn’t the go-to sales channel.

The biggest challenges were:

  • Heavy reliance on eBay (with high fees cutting into margins).
  • A website that wasn’t optimized for conversions.
  • A product catalogue that was complex for customers to navigate.
  • A pricing model that had to align with long-time B2B customers who had fixed agreements.

The Growth Strategy That Worked

We focused on small, consistent improvements over time rather than quick hacks. Here’s what made the difference:

1. Shifting Sales from eBay to Our Website

One of the first things we did was add flyers in every eBay order, informing customers that they could buy directly from our website. This alone started moving more sales away from eBay, increasing our profit margins immediately.

2. SEO & Email Marketing Became Our Backbone

We worked on SEO improvements bit by bit every month, optimizing product pages, adding content, and making the site more user-friendly. Over time, this resulted in a steady increase in organic traffic and conversions.

For email marketing, we used it to clear out excess stock while also nurturing customers for repeat purchases. Email became one of their most valuable sales channels, ensuring we stayed top-of-mind for customers.

Additionally, we revamped our email automation to better nurture new website visitors. This included:

  • Abandoned cart emails to recover lost sales.
  • Restock reminders to notify customers when popular items were available again.
  • Post-purchase sequences to encourage repeat business and cross-sell related products.

This automation helped convert more visitors into buyers and kept customers engaged over time.

3. Website Optimization for a Better Customer Experience

We redesigned the homepage to make it easier for customers to find products across the vast catalogue. We also introduced dedicated category pages for products like Velcro discs and sanding belts, making it simpler for customers to browse and buy.

4. Positioning Our USP: In-House Manufactured Sanding Belts

Unlike competitors, they manufactured their own sanding belts. We leaned into this as their unique selling proposition (USP), making it clear why buying from them was a better choice.

5. Customer Service & Trust

While we handled digital growth, the owner and staff played a key role in converting leads. Quick responses to inquiries helped turn potential customers into long-term buyers, reinforcing trust and reliability.

Challenges & Lessons Learned

One of the biggest hurdles was pricing. The business had long-term B2B customers with set pricing agreements, so we couldn’t offer deep discounts online without upsetting existing bulk buyers. We learned this the hard way when we discounted too aggressively in the past and received backlash. From then on, we limited online discounts to a max of 5% (except for clearance items).

The Results & Takeaways

  • Online sales grew 10x, from ~$50,000 annually to over $500,000 in total sales over four years.
  • Shifted a significant percentage of sales from eBay to our website, reducing fees and increasing profitability.
  • SEO and email marketing became our highest ROI channels.
  • Automated email sequences helped nurture customers and recover lost sales.
  • No outside funding, no ad spend, just steady, strategic improvements.

Advice for Others Looking to Scale

  1. If you rely on third-party platforms (eBay, Amazon, etc.), build a strategy to transition customers to your own website.
  2. SEO is a long game, but it compounds over time—start early and stay consistent.
  3. Email marketing is underrated—use it to clear stock, nurture customers, and drive repeat purchases.
  4. Automate emails to recover lost sales and keep customers engaged.
  5. Pay based on performance. If you’re hiring someone to grow an online store, tie their compensation to actual results (a percentage of sales or tiered bonuses). This incentivizes real growth.

Scaling an online store doesn’t have to be about throwing money at ads or chasing trends. If you focus on profitability, brand control, and long-term SEO/email marketing, you can achieve incredible results without massive investments.

What’s your biggest challenge in scaling an online business?
Let’s discuss in the comments!

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