Business

Xander Neff Helps with Taking the First Step

Published

5 years ago

October 7, 2020

Take it from the guy who literally had to learn to walk all over again in his late teens; first steps are hard. Xander Neff knows all about it. He wouldn’t let the hardship stop him–he never did with whatever he was going through–but he could understand why a new beginning might give people some pause.

He’s had a few new beginnings of his own. As a kid, he did every job he could find, juggling as many as three at one point. Then after the accident that paralyzed him from the waist down, he decided to join the Army once he was well enough.

Then, when the Army thing didn’t pan out because of another injury and he wound up homeless, he had to make one more first step and move out of his car and into hotel rooms while on tour with Girls Night Out the Show. Those are plenty of very difficult firsts packed into his young life. Here’s what he’d say to others about the lessons it taught him.

Defining the Biggest Challenge

Different fitness, entrepreneurship, and any other kinds of gurus will focus on different areas when looking for the biggest challenge for starting a business or any other kind of endeavor. Xander uses a football analogy to explain his philosophy.

“In football, it’s not having the quickest 40-yard dash that makes the best player,” he explains. “The best player is the man that, within the first 3 steps, is already a mile ahead of his opponent with a vision of drive and determination that will get him to the end zone.”

It’s those three first steps that determine the player’s direction, intent, drive, and every other trait that will bring them to the end zone. So as someone who is trying to translate this into the world of business, it would be best just to stick to the basic tenet of not going into it blind. Having the idea–those three steps that will chart a direction–can mean the world.

Getting the Right Mindset

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to avoid talking about mindset when trying to help people get out of a rut. Mindsets are important, no matter how often they’ve been an abused concept to spew all kinds of nonsense.

With Xander, the nonsense is nonexistent. It’s pretty simple. Failure doesn’t exist; there are just opportunities to learn. As a master of reframing himself, it’s easy for Xander to say this. But it gets even better because he would also advise looking for other common “opportunities to learn.” Creating a picture from different learning curves can create a pretty accurate image of what it takes to succeed in any endeavor.

So how does one take that first step? It’s easy. First, make sure that all the steps that have to happen before the first step are done. Next, have a clear vision of the past, the future, and as many variables as possible; that can make all the difference. Finally, going into it, even knowing that failure is an option is a key part and the best thing about making that first step.

You can follow Xander Neff on Instagram at @xander.fit.

Business

Scaling Success: Why Smart Habits Beat Growth Hacks in Modern eCommerce

Published

1 month ago

July 26, 2025

Matthew Wiles

There’s a romanticized image of the eCommerce founder: a daring risk-taker chasing the next big idea, fueled by late-night caffeine and last-minute inspiration. But the reality behind scaled, sustainable brands tells a different story. Success in digital commerce doesn’t come from chaos or clever hacks. It comes from habits. Repetitive, structured, often unglamorous habits.

Change, a digital platform created by eCommerce strategist Ryan, builds its entire philosophy around this truth. Through education, mentorship, and infrastructure, Change helps founders shift from scrambling for quick wins to building strong systems that grow with them. The company doesn’t just offer software. It provides the foundation for digital trade, particularly for those in the B2B space.

The Habits That Build Momentum

At the heart of Change’s philosophy are five core habits Ryan considers non-negotiable. These aren’t buzzwords; they’re the foundation of sustainable growth.

First, obsess over data. Successful founders replace guesswork with metrics. They don’t rely on gut feelings. They measure performance and iterate.

Second, know your customer deeply. Not just what they buy, but why they buy. The most resilient brands build emotional loyalty, not just transactional volume.

Third, test fast. Algorithms shift. Consumer behavior changes. High-performing teams don’t resist this; they test weekly, sometimes daily, and adapt.

Fourth, manage time like a CEO. Every decision has a cost. Prioritizing high-impact actions isn’t optional; it’s survival.

Fifth, stay connected to mentorship and learning. The digital market moves quickly. The remaining founders are the ones who keep learning, never assuming they know it all.

Turning Habits into Infrastructure

What begins as personal discipline must eventually evolve into a team structure. Change teaches founders how to scale their systems, not just their sales.

Tools are essential for starting, think Notion for documentation, Asana for project management, Mixpanel or PostHog for analytics, and Loom for async communication. But tools alone don’t create momentum.

Teams need Monday metric check-ins, weekly test cycles, customer insight reviews, just to name a few. Founders set the tone by modeling behavior. It’s the rituals that matter, then, they turn it into company culture.

Ryan puts it simply: “We’re not just building tools; we’re building infrastructure for digital trade.”

Avoiding the Common Traps

Even with structure, the path isn’t always smooth. Some founders over-focus on short-term results, chasing vanity metrics or shiny tactics that feel productive but don’t move the needle.

Others fall into micromanagement, drowning in dashboards instead of building intuition. Discipline should sharpen clarity, not create rigidity. Flexibility is part of the process. Knowing when to pivot is just as important as knowing when to persist.

Scaling Through Self-Replication

In the end, eCommerce scale isn’t just about growing a business. It’s about repeating successful systems at every level. When founders internalize high-performance habits, they turn them into processes, then culture, then legacy.

Growth doesn’t require more motivation. It requires more precision. More consistency. Your calendar, not your to-do list, is your business plan.

In a space dominated by noise and novelty, Change and its founder are quietly reshaping the conversation. They aren’t chasing trends but building resilience, one habit at a time.