In this episode of Roadmap to 50K on Shopify, Susan pulls back the curtain on what she got wrong while building her new ecommerce store, Sock Doggo—and it’s a mistake many store owners make.

While she successfully validated her product with proof of concept, generated over $13,000 in sales, and built a 5,000+ person email list (with nearly 50% of sales coming from email), one key piece was missing: a second product.

Without a natural next purchase, her customer acquisition cost remains high—around $35 per customer—making profitability harder to reach. Susan breaks down why lifetime value is the real profit driver and why getting a second (and third) order quickly is essential.

She shares:

• Why “newness” matters more than you think

• How to calculate your true customer acquisition cost

• Why returning customer rate is a key metric to watch

• How to create a simple second-order email funnel

• Real examples from successful store owners who increased lifetime value

• Her plan to introduce complementary products and gift strategies

If you’re building a one-product store—or struggling with high ad costs—this episode gives you a practical roadmap to increase profitability without just spending more on traffic.