Asad Saddique on Action Over Theory: Why Most Founders Overthink Growth

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I get asked all the time: “What’s your secret?” “Which courses did you take?” “What books changed your business?”

The truth? I didn’t read any business books.

That sounds crazy to people. Here’s a guy who built the UK’s largest online hoverboard retailer, won Shopify’s Build a Business competition, rang the bell at NYSE – and he’s telling you he didn’t crack open a single copy of “The Lean Startup” or “Zero to One.”

But that’s exactly my point.

Your 4-Week Success Blueprint: Here’s What I’d Do If I Started Over Tomorrow

We’ll get back to my story later, but first, I wanted to share my thoughts on what I believe is the perfect plan to get your business idea up and running.

After all, this is how I succeeded.

So, let’s say I’m starting from scratch again with just an idea and some savings… Here’s my plan:

Week 1:

Validate demand with keyword research and competitor analysis
Set up the simplest possible version using existing tools
Create one piece of content answering the main question my customers have

Week 2:

Launch even if it’s ugly
Drive initial traffic (paid ads, Reddit, wherever my customers hang out)
Talk to every single customer who buys or almost buys

Week 3:

Fix the top three problems people are having
Double down on whatever’s working for customer acquisition
Build one feature or piece of content based on actual feedback

Week 4:

Keep doing more of what’s working, less of what isn’t
Start tracking the metrics that actually matter (CAC, conversion rate, repeat purchase rate)
Make one bet on growth (new channel, new product, new market)

Notice what’s not on there? Reading books. Taking courses. Building the “perfect” brand. Waiting until I feel ready.

Just building, launching, learning, repeating.

I Was Too Busy Building to Read About Building

When I withdrew $6,000 from my savings in September 2015, I wasn’t following a framework. I saw hoverboards on the news, checked Google’s keyword tool to see if people were searching for them, and thought “yeah, there’s something here.”

Two weeks later, iSwegway was live.

Two weeks. That’s it. I didn’t spend months planning. Didn’t hire consultants. Didn’t take courses on e-commerce strategy. I just… did it.

And that’s where most people get stuck. They’re waiting for the perfect plan. The right mentor. The magic course that’ll give them all the answers. Meanwhile, the opportunity’s slipping away.

Here’s what I did instead of planning:

Validated demand in 30 minutes using free tools (Google Keyword Planner)
Set up a Shopify trial and figured it out as I went
Launched ugly and fixed problems as they came up
Let customer questions teach me what I needed to know

You don’t need permission to start. You just need to start.

Your Customers Will Tell You Everything If You Listen

Early days, I got tons of emails. “Is this safe?” “How long does shipping take?” “What if it breaks?”

Most founders see this as annoying customer service work. I saw it as gold.

Every question was someone telling me exactly what was stopping them from buying. So I didn’t just answer the email but updated my FAQ section as well. Changed my product descriptions. Added info to my homepage.

The bounce rate dropped. Time on site went up. SEO improved. Sales increased.

One decision with multiple benefits. And I didn’t learn this from a course. I learned it from paying attention.

People overthink growth strategies when the answers are sitting right there in their inbox. Your customers are literally telling you what they need to hear. Write it down. Put it on your site. Watch what happens.

I Picked Tools Based on What Was Fast Instead of “Best”

Everyone asks what tech stack I used. Like there’s some magic combination of tools that makes you successful.

I used Shopify because I could set it up quickly. ZenDesk because it was easy to customize. Google Analytics because it was free and I could figure it out without a manual.

That’s it. No complex integrations. No “best practice” research. I picked what let me move fast and didn’t slow me down.

Here’s what I didn’t do: Spend three weeks comparing Shopify vs. WooCommerce vs. Magento. Didn’t hire a developer to build a custom solution. Didn’t wait for the “perfect” setup.

My tool selection process:

Can I set this up in less than a day? If no, find something simpler.
Does it solve the immediate problem? If no, I don’t need it yet.
Will this slow me down or speed me up? If it slows me down, skip it.

Perfect tools don’t build businesses. Shipping products builds businesses.

My Partner Ran Customer Service While Working Full-Time

Let me tell you something nobody puts in the success stories.

My partner barely saw me for months. I was grinding 16-hour days, trying to keep up with orders, managing suppliers, dealing with shipping delays. She was running customer service after her regular job because we couldn’t afford to hire anyone yet.

Everyone wants the highlights but nobody wants to talk about the part where you’re stressed about cash flow and your partner’s doing unpaid work and you’re not sure if this thing’s actually going to work.

But that’s where execution happens. In the messy, unglamorous middle where you’re too busy worrying about whether you’re doing it “right.”

Stop Optimizing What Doesn’t Exist Yet

Here’s the biggest mistake I see founders make: they’re optimizing before they’ve launched.

They’re split-testing headlines when they don’t have traffic. Perfecting their funnel when they don’t have leads. Building features when they don’t have users.

You can’t optimize nothing.

Launch first. Get real users. Then, and only then, start improving based on actual data from actual humans using your actual product.

I didn’t have a perfect site when I launched iSwegway. The design was basic. The checkout flow was standard Shopify. The product photos were okay at best.

But it worked. And once it worked, I could see where people dropped off. What questions they asked. What made them buy.

Then I optimized.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Success

You know what separates people who make it from people who don’t?

It’s neither intelligence nor education. Not even access to capital, though that helps.

It’s willingness to be uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable launching something that’s not perfect. Uncomfortable not knowing what you’re doing. Uncomfortable risking money you can’t afford to lose. Uncomfortable admitting you were wrong and changing direction.

When I put that $6,000 into iSwegway, I was uncomfortable as hell. That was basically all I had left after previous ventures that didn’t work out. If this failed, I was done.

But I was more uncomfortable with the idea of not trying. Of always wondering “what if?”

That discomfort drove me to move fast. To not overthink it. To just execute and figure it out as I went.

Most founders are trying to eliminate discomfort through planning. But you can’t plan away the uncertainty of building something new. You just have to sit in that discomfort and do it anyway.

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Actually, I take that back. I’m glad nobody told me anything.

If someone had laid out all the challenges ahead of time (the logistics nightmares, the supplier issues, the customer complaints, the sleepless nights) I might’ve talked myself out of it.

Sometimes ignorance really is an advantage. You don’t know how hard it’s supposed to be, so you just do it.

But if I had to give advice to my younger self, it’d be this: trust yourself more. You don’t need another person’s framework. You don’t need permission from a guru. You already know enough to start.

The gap between where you are and where you want to be isn’t filled with more information. It’s filled with action.

So close the tabs. Stop researching. Pick something … anything…. and ship it this week.

You’ll learn more in two weeks of doing than two years of planning.

I promise.

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