When the first project fails, sow again

I sowed some lettuce seeds in our garden awhile ago but they still haven't come up.

The temperature was good so it was probably a problem with a nearby tree or they got washed away in some heavy rains we've had.

Yesterday I re-sowed more into a tray. That way I can control their environment a bit more, they won't get washed away and there's no tree stealing light and water.

Worst case we won't have any come up and will have to rely on the other plants that are working.

When you start a new project or campaign in your Shopify store you need to be ready to handle failure.

With my lettuce I waited too long to start another batch of seeds. My excuse was that we adjusted our planting beds and I didn't know how much I needed (uncertainty) but the cost of a few wasted seeds is insignificant. This last batch might work out but it won't perform as well as the original plan.

With a project to boost sales, conversions, or the like, you need to have a backup plan too. That could be a second project or campaign ready to go. Or it could be reverting to how things are working right now.

Don't hope a project to succeed and never consider the failure option. With some thought most projects can be be recovered, even if it doesn't perform as you hoped (baby greens instead of full heads of lettuce).

And set some clear goal upfront too. I should have said "if this lettuce doesn't germinate with 7 days, I'll start another batch of seeds". Instead I waited over 20 days to see no results at all.

If you use Repeat Customer Insights there are multiple metrics you can use for your goals: Average Order Value, Purchase Latency, Orders per Month, Repeat Purchase Rate, etc.

Using the historic and Cohort reports you can get an idea if a project is actually performing better.

Eric Davis