If Your Business Is Stuck, Don’t Make This Mistake

In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley draws from his decade-long ecommerce experience to explore the critical role of perseverance in entrepreneurial success. Using relatable analogies like video game bosses and concrete walls, Josh candidly shares his own struggles with business growth while emphasizing that persistent challenges signal worthwhile problems, not failure. He encourages entrepreneurs to combine patience with strategic focus, make incremental daily improvements, and resist the temptation to abandon their current business when growth stalls. Ultimately, Josh frames long-term success as the result of consistent effort, smart decision-making, and unwavering faith in the process. Bullet Points: Importance of perseverance in entrepreneurship, particularly in ecommerce. Challenges and constraints faced by entrepreneurs during business growth. Comparison of entrepreneurial challenges to "boss levels" in video games. Value of slow, steady growth over quick success. Misconceptions about rapid, overnight success in business. Concept of "intelligent perseverance" and flexible goal achievement. Need for a clear business strategy focusing on impactful constraints. Balancing business growth with personal life and relationships. The significance of incremental improvements and resilience during tough times. Encouragement to persist through challenges and maintain consistent effort. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction to Perseverance The host introduces himself and the episode's theme: why perseverance is a crucial trait for entrepreneurial success in ecommerce. 00:01:04 The Power of a Daily Message The host shares how a short inspirational video on perseverance helped him overcome a personal funk and business-related frustrations. 00:02:07 Defining Perseverance The host defines perseverance as the steady effort to achieve a goal, even when it's hard or takes a long time. 00:03:13 The Video Game Analogy Business growth is compared to a video game, where entrepreneurs must defeat progressively harder "bosses" or constraints to level up. 00:06:32 The Challenge of Omnichannel Transitioning from an Amazon-only brand to an omnichannel presence is presented as a massive, multi-year challenge, like a thick concrete wall. 00:08:43 The Reality of Success The host reassures listeners that slow, steady growth is more common than the overnight success stories often seen on social media. 00:11:13 The 40-Year "Overnight" Success The story of Portillo's is used as an example of a business that took 40 years to become a major success. 00:12:28 Balancing Growth and Lifestyle The host discusses sacrificing rapid growth for a more sustainable pace that allows for family time and a balanced lifestyle. 00:15:15 Intelligent Perseverance and Strategy Perseverance must be paired with a good strategy, which involves recognizing patterns and focusing limited resources on the right opportunities. 00:17:49 The Uncomfortable Middle The host describes the challenging phase after hiring new talent, where progress isn't immediately visible and patience is required. 00:20:20 The Real Test of an Entrepreneur True perseverance is tested not when things are going well, but when facing negative feedback, missed targets, and setbacks. 00:22:36 The Danger of Diversifying Too Soon Entrepreneurs often jump to new ventures when they hit a constraint, instead of persevering through the challenges of their current business. 00:24:50 The Breakthrough is a Process, Not an Event Success is not one giant breakthrough but the result of making slightly better decisions consistently over a long period of time. 00:27:09 The Goal is to Handle Hardship The ultimate goal isn't to eliminate challenges, but to become someone who can operate effectively and move forward when things are hard. Links and Mentions: Business Examples: "Portillo's": "00:12:28" Books/Concepts: "Intelligent Perseverance": "00:15:12" Quotes: "Intelligent perseverance is remaining committed to the destination while being unattached to the route that gets you there.": "00:15:12" Transcript: Josh Hadley 00:00:00  What if the reason why you're still struggling with the same problem in your business isn't because you're failing, but it's actually because the problem you are facing is actually worth solving? Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own ecommerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I'm a man of faith. I'm a husband to a beautiful wife and the father of four children. I've been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, doing over $20 million in annual revenue and doing multi-millionaires on channels such as Amazon, TikTok, shop and Shopify. And I am also the host of the number one business strategy podcast for ecommerce entrepreneurs. And that is E-com breakthrough. Today, I want to share with you why perseverance is one of the most important traits that you can acquire as an entrepreneur to set yourself up for success in the future. Josh Hadley 00:01:04  And the reason why I'm talking about this today is because, to be honest with you, I'm going through hard stuff in the business right now. And, you know, I always start my day with kind of a daily meditation or a devotional with God. Whenever I drop off the kids from school, I'm always turning on a podcast or an inspirational message. And today, as I was driving back home from dropping the kids off from school, a YouTube video started playing after I listened to another podcast, and it was a two minute video, and it was from Jeffrey R Holland. And it was all about why perseverance is such a vital trait that we could acquire in this life. And it touched me right to the core, and honestly kind of helped pull me out of a little funk that I've been in over the last couple days of just, you know, feeling like I'm running on this hamster wheel, trying to defeat some of the top constraints in the business, but also feeling like I'm not going anywhere at the exact same time. Josh Hadley 00:02:07  And so that's the message that I want to share with you today, because it inspired me. It reinvigorated me, and it lit that fire underneath me to help lead the business to that next step. And that's what my hope is for you today is as you listen to this, you know, wherever you are in your season of business, you will continue to face hard things. And it is through facing those hard things that you as a person, your character is going to be refined, but more importantly, you develop that grit and that perseverance that will allow you to succeed. So let's talk about what perseverance actually is. I love the definition of perseverance. Just coming straight from the dictionary, which is perseverance, is keeping a steady effort to achieve a goal even when things are hard, frustrating, or take a very long time. Let's talk about that very long time. Because in the intro I said, what if the reason why you're still facing the exact same problem today isn't because you're actually failing as an entrepreneur? Maybe it's because the problem is actually worth solving. Josh Hadley 00:03:13  And I'll tell you this much if you are selling in the e-commerce space, welcome to one of the most competitive busin...

See All Episodes