Thoughts:
“Your greatest loss in Ecommerce is the sale you could have fulfilled.”
“Before you chase customers, make sure you have something to give them.”
“Ads bring traffic. Inventory brings money.”
Let me tell you the dumbest thing I did with ₦200,000…
I ran an ad for a product I didn’t have in stock.
The day I launched the ad, it was fire.
I got 47 orders in 12 hours. I was pumped. I was already calculating my profit.
₦20k per order. Almost ₦900k in my head. Not bad.
But when I called the supplier… “Oga, that one don finish o.”
Wait what?
He said, “We just sold the last set yesterday. Maybe next week it will land again.”
Next week? You dey whine me?
You see that day… I learned something the hard way.
You don’t scale ads. You scale stock first.
Most people don’t know this, but inventory is your real boss in Ecommerce.
Not your customer. Not your ad budget. Not even your winning product.
If stock is not moving with you, it’s moving against you.
I lost over 35 confirmed orders. I wasted money. Lost trust.
And worst part? Some of those buyers have NEVER bought from me again.
The truth about inventory nobody told you
STRATEGY 1: Your Product Has Expiry Date. But It’s Not What You Think
We always think expiry means when the product spoils.
No. In Ecommerce, a product expires the moment your supplier runs out and you keep advertising like a clown.
You can’t pour water from an empty keg.
Every time you ignore stock levels, you are lying to your customers without even knowing it.
They will feel scammed.
You will look like a fraud. And all that hard work? Poof.
Your money is in the warehouse, not in the ad.
Before you scale ANY ad, call your supplier.
Get real stock numbers from your inventory manager
Ask: “How many do you have right now, and how fast can you restock?”
STRATEGY 2: Turn WhatsApp Into Your Daily Inventory HQ
Forget “stock software” if you’re not yet doing 100+ orders a day.
What you need is a reliable daily check-in system.
Wake up, brush teeth, message supplier about stock every other day or get your inventory manager to do it.
Simple habit. Big results.
Once you have this rhythm, you can confidently scale ads, plan offers, and promise delivery times without guessing.
Think of it like a bank alert.
You don’t guess your account balance. So don’t guess your product balance.
STRATEGY 3: Never Scale Ads on Low Stock
I know.
You want to cash out fast.
But here’s the truth…
If you’re sitting on less than 20 units and you’re running full ads like a maniac, you’re not scaling – you’re setting fire to your business.
Instead, do this:
- Pause ads
- Sell it through WhatsApp broadcast, follow up or do content
- Or better… wait till your supplier confirms fresh stock
Don’t use fuel when you don’t have tyre.
People think “scaling” means just increasing ad spend.
But if your backend (supplier, delivery, staff, stock) is shaky, more orders will expose your weakness faster than NEPA takes light.
Scaling is not about speed.
You might be thinking, “Okay I get it. But how do I make sure this never happens again?”
That’s exactly what I built Ecommerce Success Launchpad to solve.
