20 of the most fatal misconceptions among e-commerce business owners exposed! You think exploiting your employees is saving money, but you're actually committing suicide!

sometimes,E-commerceThe scariest thing about a boss isn't strong competitors, but rather their own overconfidence! 🤯

I've seen too many e-commerce bosses who confidently proclaim, "I'm going to crush my competitors!" only to be "crushed" by their own series of misconceptions.

Let's take a look at the 20 most common misconceptions among e-commerce business owners and see which "pitfalls" we've all fallen into.

I. Thinking that exploiting employees would save money, they ended up losing even more.

Some bosses are obsessed with labor costs and like to make one person do the work of three.

On the surface, it seems to save costs, but in reality, employees are full of resentment and efficiency is as low as a tortoise race.

In the end, not only did the company's performance decline, but it also drove away key personnel.

Truly smart bosses don't exploit their employees; they inspire their creativity.

Second, an unfounded confidence in their product, believing it to be invincible.

Some business owners are obsessed with their own "product kingdom," thinking that their designs are high-end and sophisticated. But when they put their products on the market, a buyer's single sentence shatters their dream: "Isn't this just an outdated style?"

The market has changed, aesthetics have changed, but the products themselves haven't changed.

Third, attributing success to oneself while forgetting the power of favorable trends and platforms.

Selling like hotcakes during a boom doesn't mean you're amazing.

Just like a pig can fly if it stands in the right place at the right time, but when the wind stops, it will fall harder than anyone else.

Fourth, believing that price wars can eliminate competitors.

Some business owners, upon seeing their competitors lower prices, immediately follow suit and cut their own. The result is that everyone lowers their prices, and all profits disappear.

Engaging in a price war is like two people trying to see who can hold their breath longer and who will die first.

Fifth, they thought saving costs meant making money, but the result was a completely ruined brand reputation.

The phrase most often uttered by a "stingy" boss is: "Save money wherever you can."

As a result, the raw materials were slightly inferior, there was one less customer service representative, and the after-sales service was delayed by two days.

In the end, the customer simply left with a "bad review," and the brand's trust collapsed overnight.

VI. Focusing on short-term profits while neglecting the long-term value of customers.

Some business owners only look at how many orders they sell today and don't care about the repurchase rate.

Keep in mind that the cost of acquiring a new customer is 10 times the cost of retaining a customer!

Smart e-commerce companies are calculating "customer lifetime value," not just short-term profits.

7. Blindly pursuing growth while forgetting ROI and marginal utility

Sales doubled, and so did the advertising budget? Well, you'd better watch out.

Because the return on investment (ROI) is often inversely proportional to sales volume, the more money you spend, the less worthwhile it becomes.

8. Copying a competitor's hit product only leads to huge losses.

"If he can become famous, so can I!"—This statement has ruined countless bosses.

Others have supply chains, distribution channels, and established brands. If you simply copy them, you'll only end up with the tragedy of "overstocked inventory."

9. Blindly expanding production when sales are good, resulting in warehouses overflowing with inventory.

Short-term fluctuations in e-commerce sales are normal, but some business owners are too optimistic and immediately expand production capacity.

Once the hype dies down, the warehouse is overflowing with inventory, and everyone's morale collapses.

10. Ignoring those "invisible" hidden costs

The hidden killers of e-commerce are not advertising costs, but rather the hidden costs of compliance, taxes, product spoilage, and inefficient communication.

Many business owners appear to be making money on paper, but actually lose money on these small pitfalls.

11. Path dependence: Old experience hijacks the new situation.

Some traditional business owners are still doing business with the mindset they had ten years ago.

Times have changed; new retail has revolutionized the way traditional retail works.

The emergence of Hema, Sam's Club, and Costco already told you:Experience is the core competitive advantage.

12. Treating competitors as enemies, blindly confronting them instead of studying them.

"I hate him!"—Many bosses say this.

But excellent competitors are actually your best teachers.

Moreover, what truly threatens you is often not your competitors, but rather those crossing over into other industries, such as platform-operated businesses,AIProduct selection, emerging brands.

Thirteen, harboring a侥幸心理 (a mentality of taking chances) and failing to make risk preparations.

When market conditions change, rising raw material prices, exchange rate fluctuations, and policy adjustments can directly devastate businesses.

A boss who doesn't implement risk control is like trying to pitch a tent in a hurricane.

14. Engaging in diversification across industries before establishing a stable core business.

I heard that others were making money through short videos, so I wanted to get involved; I heard that selling pet supplies was a hit, so I started selling cat food.

Before even solidifying their core business, they rushed into "diversification," which resulted in "multiple disasters."

15. Only likes to hear praise and treats customer feedback as "haters".

If a customer reports that your product is not working well, do you immediately block them?

Then you'll miss out on a real opportunity for improvement.

A customer's willingness to offer suggestions means they still care about you; what's truly frightening is a silent customer.

16. Refusing to use efficiency tools and still believing that "old methods are the most reliable".

Manual bookkeeping, manual shipping, manual reconciliation...

Who does that these days?

ERP, AI customer service, and automation systems have long been able to double efficiency, yet many business owners are still stuck in the era of "notebook accounting".

17. Chasing after online influencer trends without understanding data analysis.

Upon hearing that influencer marketing could lead to explosive sales, they immediately spent hundreds of thousands of yuan to hire livestreamers.

The investigation revealed that the data was fabricated, sales couldn't be recovered, and even the inventory couldn't be cleared.

Those buried in the "internet celebrity pit" are e-commerce business owners who don't understand conversion logic.

18. Overestimating personal connections while neglecting to build real strength.

Some bosses rely on connections to build their networks, spending their days wining and dining and engaging in public relations, yet their performance doesn't improve.

In the new business era, true relationships are the attraction brought by strength.

19. Having blind faith in parachuted-in personnel, believing that hiring a "big shot" could save the company.

Bringing in an outside expert to put out the fire seems like a professional move, but it turns out they're not suited to the local conditions.

Even the most talented person cannot achieve results if the company culture, processes, and values ​​are mismatched.

20. Partnerships like brothers, breakups like enemies.

Many e-commerce businesses started as a partnership between brothers, but in the end, they even deleted each other's WeChat accounts.

A business is not a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to a world of martial arts and chivalry), and it does not rely on loyalty, but on a balance between systems and trust.

Conclusion: Cognition is the biggest ceiling for e-commerce business owners.

The world of e-commerce changes too fast; yesterday's successful model may become a trap today.

Truly great bosses never cling to their own "experience," but constantly update their "knowledge."

Because the essence of business is not about working hard, but about seeing the right direction.

As someone once said:"Fools change the outcome, wise people change their perception."

Final Thoughts

• Exploiting employees does not equal saving costs.
• Engaging in price wars does not equal winning the market.
• Diversification ≠ growth.
• Relying on connections is not the same as relying on ability.
• Refusing to update one's understanding is refusing to grow.

In the e-commerce battlefield, it's never about who runs the fastest, but who has the longest vision. 🚀

Instead of anxiously rolling it up, calm down and ask yourself: Am I still living in the past?