01
Profit is the number that counts
Sales and followers look nice. Profit is what pays you. Every lesson, task and alert in Helix is judged by one question: does it grow your profit?
The Helix framework
Attract. Convert. Grow.
Every store grows the same way: bring the right people in, turn them into buyers, then keep more of every sale and do it again. Every Helix lesson sits in one of these three stages, and Today shows you which one you are working on.
Attract
Get seen by people who want what you sell.
Ads, creative, content and audiences that bring the right buyers to your door, at a cost you can afford.
- Meta, Google and TikTok ads
- Creative, hooks and creators
- Content, social and SEO
- Audiences and campaign set-up
Convert
Turn visits into sales.
An offer worth buying, a store that is easy to trust, a smooth checkout and emails that bring people back to finish.
- Offer, pricing and promotions
- Store, product pages and checkout
- Email and SMS flows
- Store set-up
Grow
Keep more of every sale, then scale.
Profit every day, budgets that scale safely, customers who come back, and the stock, team and admin that hold it all up.
- Daily profit and the dashboard
- Scaling budgets and retention
- Stock, suppliers and cash
- Run your business and hiring
Who Helix is for
Built for stores doing $10k to $30k a month that want to reach $1M, profitably
That is where Helix gets the most done for you: you have real sales and real numbers, the owner still makes the calls, and small daily gains add up fast. Just starting? The Just starting track begins at $0 and gets you to steady sales. Already past $1M a year? Helix keeps helping as you scale toward $10M.
- Great start
Just starting
Under about $10k a month
$0 to your first sales
Pick a product people want, build a store that converts, and run a first small test campaign without wasting money.
Just starting track (28 days) - Best fit
Growing
$10k to $30k a month
Toward a $1M year, profitably
The best fit for Helix. Find ads that pay for themselves, lift conversion and order value, grow your list and keep more of every sale on the way to $1M.
Growing track (66 days) - Good fit
Scaling
$30k to $80k+ a month
On the way to a $1M year and beyond
Protect margin as spend grows, plan stock and Black Friday a year ahead, and hand work to a small team with clear numbers to hit.
Growing track, plus the business and stock tools
Milestones to aim for
- First sale
- First $10k month
- First $1M yearYour goal
- First $10M year
What to aim at
The goal is profit, not just revenue.
Chase these in order: site visits, click-through rate, add-to-cart rate, conversion rate, average order value, ROAS and MER, cost per acquisition, contribution margin, and finally net profit.
Each rung feeds the next. Set monthly targets when you sign up, and Helix checks them against your real results on Today and the Dashboard, so you always know which number to work on next.
Revenue is the vanity number. Profit is the goal. A store can double its sales and still lose money if ads, discounts and product costs grow faster. Each rung of the ladder feeds the next, and every one of them is there to grow the last one: net profit.
What good looks like for each number- 1
Site visits (sessions)Attract
Grows with ads, content and email - 2
Click-through rate (CTR)Attract
1%+ solid · 1.2%+ strong - 3
Add-to-cart rateConvert
About 6%+ - 4
Conversion rateConvert
2%+ solid · most stores 1 to 3% - 5
Average order value (AOV)Convert
No universal target: lift it - 6
ROAS and MERGrow
MER 20 to 35% (ROAS about 2.9x to 5x) - 7
Cost per acquisition (CPA)Grow
Below your break-even CPA - 8
Contribution marginGrow
15%+ healthy Net profitGrow
Above $0 · many aim for 10 to 20%
It is all about the bottom line
Profit, profit, profit.
Not sales. Not followers. Not likes. Helix puts your profit at the top of the screen every day and helps you grow it one small step at a time.
02
You need to spend on ads to make revenue
It feels counter-intuitive, but for most stores, ads are how new customers find you. Helix makes sure you scale profitably. It sets a break-even target for your ads (the most you can pay for a sale and still make money), so you spend only while each sale is profitable, and pull back when it is not.
03
Meta and Google still work
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Google can seem saturated. Everyone says they are too crowded and too expensive. But they are still what works for most stores. The winners simply do the basics well, every day.
What you see every morning
$412 profit yesterday
“Better than your 7-day average of $361. Keep doing what worked and do today's lesson.”
Let's grow a little every day.
Why Helix? Named after the double helix of DNA, the instruction manual that lets living things grow by copying what works, faithfully, cell by cell. You own the business; Helix is the tool that helps you copy what works every day, so growth builds on itself. The story behind the name
Nervous about ads?
Most owners are scared to advertise. Helix shows you how it really works.
It usually goes like this. You are worried about wasting money, so you put a little into Meta or Google, nothing much comes back after a week, and you decide ads are not for you. But a tiny budget switched off early never had a fair chance. Helix explains how Meta and Google ads actually work, in plain words, so you can spend with a plan instead of a knot in your stomach.
Why small tests fail
Meta and Google need enough sales to learn who buys from you. A tiny budget, or switching ads off after three days, means they never get there. Helix tells you what a fair test costs at your prices before you spend a dollar.
A safe limit on every dollar
Helix works out your break-even cost per sale from your own numbers. You can see when an ad is making money, when to give it more and when to stop.
Learn how it really works
Short daily lessons with step-by-step instructions show you how campaigns, audiences and creative fit together. Helix can build Meta campaigns as paused drafts, so nothing spends until you press go.
Stay in control
You do not need an expensive agency to grow
Many owners pay an agency a high monthly retainer and still do not see results. It is hard to check what is working, because full transparency is rarely in an agency's interest: the less you understand, the more you need them.
Helix turns that around. Your ad accounts, data and customers stay yours, you see every number, and you learn why each decision is made. Take control of your business, grow it a little every day, and let compounding work for you.
Good agencies do exist. If you work with one, Helix helps you read their results with your own eyes.
A typical agency
With Helix
A high monthly retainer, whether or not sales grow
A low monthly plan. Your money goes into ads and stock, not fees
Reports that are hard to check
Your real profit every morning, worked out from your own numbers
The less you understand, the more you need them
Every suggestion comes with the why, so you understand your business better each week
The know-how leaves when the contract ends
The skills you learn stay with you and your team
Black Friday and Cyber Monday, all year
Black Friday is won months before November
For many stores, Black Friday and Cyber Monday is the biggest sales window of the year. For some, those four days bring in more than a normal month. The stores that do best do not start in November. They start testing ads and offers in August, order stock in September and build in October, so by launch day they already know which ads, offers and products sell. Stores that start in November are guessing, with the most expensive ads of the year.
Helix starts your plan on 1 August. Add it in one click, and every step lands on Today and your calendar on the right date. The rest of the year, it nudges you to keep testing so you start the season ahead.
- August
Look back, set targets, start testing
- Look back at last year and set your targets
- Start testing ad angles and creatives
- Start building your email and SMS list
- Test your offer ideas early
- September
Order stock, lock the offer, scale winners
- Order stock 10 to 12 weeks out
- Lock your offer
- Scale your winning tests
- OctoberNow
Build creatives, warm up, load stock
- Finalise your sale creatives
- Warm up your audiences
- Build your email and SMS flows
- Load stock and get ready to ship
- Build your sale campaigns, switched off
- November
Launch, check daily, scale winners
- Freeze the site and test every code
- Start the hype
- Launch day
- Check results daily and scale the winners
- December and January
Review and plan next year
- Review the sale
- Write next year's test plan
How it works
Check. One thing a day. Approve. Grow.
- 1
Check
Paste your store link. Helix checks your home page, a product page and your cart, plus your Meta ads once connected. Then it ranks the fixes.
- 2
One thing a day
Each day you get one short lesson and one clear task, explained step by step. About 15 minutes.
- 3
You approve
Some tasks Helix can prepare for you, like a Meta campaign built as a paused draft. Nothing goes live until you say yes.
- 4
Watch profit grow
Add yesterday's numbers each morning and see your profit. Small daily wins add up fast.
Growth strategies
One strategy at a time, explained simply
For each one, Helix tells you what to do, why it matters and how to do it, step by step. Then it asks: want me to do it for you? You see the effect in your daily numbers.
The daily profit habit
What: Two minutes each morning to add yesterday's numbers and see your profit.
Why: You cannot grow what you do not measure. Seeing profit every day stops small leaks becoming big ones.
- Add yesterday's sales, orders and ad spend.
- Read the big profit number and the one-line note.
- Do one small task to improve it.
Want me to do it for you? Pulls in your Shopify sales and Meta ad spend once connected, and tells you in plain words what changed.You will see it in: Profit, every day
Win back almost-buyers
What: Friendly reminder emails to people who added to cart or started checkout but did not pay.
Why: These people nearly bought. A reminder brings many back, usually without a discount.
- Turn on checkout reminders.
- Add cart and browsing reminders.
- Only offer a discount to new customers, in the last email.
Want me to do it for you? Gives you the full email copy and timing to paste into your email platform.You will see it in: Email sales and profit
Welcome emails
What: Three to six emails that greet new subscribers and help them make a first order.
Why: New subscribers are most interested right after they sign up. This often becomes one of your best earners.
- Add a sign-up pop-up.
- Turn on the welcome series.
- Send yourself a test.
Want me to do it for you? Gives you the series copy and timing to paste into your email platform.You will see it in: Email sales and profit
Ads that stop the scroll
What: Short videos from real people, with openings that grab attention in the first 3 seconds.
Why: If nobody stops scrolling, nobody buys. Better openings lower your ad cost per sale.
- Pull phrases from your reviews.
- Write 20 openings.
- Test 3 to 6 at a time, keep the winners.
Want me to do it for you? Builds the ads as paused drafts in your Meta account and shows how each test is doing against break-even.You will see it in: Ad cost per sale and profit
New product launch
What: A waitlist, early access for your best customers, launch day and a push halfway through.
Why: A launch turns a new product into an event, so more people buy at full price.
- Open a waitlist page.
- Plan the emails and ads.
- Plan a 24-hour push mid-launch.
Want me to do it for you? Gives you the checklist, step by step.You will see it in: Profit during the launch
Black Friday plan
What: A plan that starts on 1 August: target, offer, list building, build-up, sale days and a calm finish.
Why: For many stores, the biggest week of the year is won months before it starts, and a bad offer can wipe out your profit.
- Set a profit target.
- Pick an offer that keeps your margin.
- Put emails and ads on a timeline.
Want me to do it for you? Builds the timeline with due dates, checks the profit on each offer, and builds sale ads as paused Meta drafts.You will see it in: Profit, compared with your target
Christmas gifting
What: Gift guides, bundles, gift cards and clear delivery cut-off dates.
Why: Gift shoppers want ideas and certainty. Clear cut-offs and bundles lift order size without discounts.
- Make 2 or 3 gift bundles.
- Publish a gift guide.
- Show delivery cut-off dates everywhere.
Want me to do it for you? Gives you a gift bundle and cut-off reminder checklist.You will see it in: AOV (average order value) and profit
Valentine's and Mother's Day
What: A small gift edit and a free gift with purchase instead of a store-wide discount.
Why: A free gift lifts order size and keeps more profit than a big discount.
- Pick 6 to 10 giftable products.
- Choose a free gift above a set amount.
- Email and advertise the edit.
Want me to do it for you? Gives you the plan and builds the ads as paused Meta drafts for you to launch.You will see it in: Profit during the promotion
Pricing
Less than one day of agency fees. Every month.
Start free with a real profit dashboard and the first course goals. Upgrade when you want a full growth plan, your ad accounts connected and campaigns set up for you as paused drafts.
Free
Know your real profit.
US$0/month
Suits: Anyone starting out, or anyone who does not know their true margin yet.
What you get
- Profit dashboard: profit per order and per month, cost by cost
- The 2-minute daily numbers check, by hand or CSV
- Key metrics panel and marketing % guide
- Growth chart by day and week
- Your first course goals: profit dashboard, daily numbers, key numbers
- A one-off store check of your home page and a product page, with fixes that quote your pages
- Every lesson in the Learn library to read
- Ad Trends feed
- 3 AI answers a month: store-check summary, ad copy drafts and "I'm lost" help (standard advice after that)
Your first week
- Day 1: set up your profit dashboard (about 10 minutes)
- Day 2: add yesterday's numbers and see your real profit per order
- Day 3 to 7: the 2-minute numbers check each morning and the next lesson
Most popularChoose Starter
Starter
Your growth plan, and Helix does the setup work it can.
US$29/month
Suits: Stores from their first sales to about US$30k a month that want a clear weekly plan and run or plan to run Meta ads.
What you get
- Everything in Free
- Course goals for Attract and Convert: traffic, email list, add to cart, conversion, order value
- A monthly re-check of your store with a fix list that quotes your pages
- Meta connected: daily ad spend and results synced into your profit (open to early testers now, all stores after Meta's approval)
- Meta campaigns built as paused drafts in your own account. You press Launch
- Shopify connected: daily orders, sales, refunds, product costs and stock synced into your profit (read-only, new)
- Google Ads connected: daily spend and conversion value for ROAS by channel, and paused Search campaigns after you approve (coming soon)
- 50 AI write-ups a month: store-check summaries, ad copy drafts and "I'm lost" help
- Black Friday and seasonal prep plans with due dates on Today
- Full history: month, year to date and 12 months
What “Do it for me” really does
- Builds your Meta campaign, ad set and 3 ads as a paused draft in your own account. You add images and press Launch. Helix never spends or changes live budgets.
- Pulls your Meta spend and results into your profit dashboard every day.
- Pulls your Shopify orders, sales and stock in every day once you connect it. Coming soon: your Google Ads spend, and a paused Google Search campaign after you approve.
- Builds your sale prep plan with due dates and calendar invites.
- Re-checks your store every month and lists exactly what changed.
- Everything else is a step-by-step checklist with the exact settings to use. Helix guides you, and you click.
Your first week
- Day 1: connect Meta (5 minutes) and finish profit setup
- Day 2: your store re-check and top-5 fix list
- Day 3 to 5: fix #1, then build your first paused Meta test campaign
- Day 7: your first weekly check-in on Today
Cancel anytime, in one click.
Growth
Grow, keep more customers, and run it like a business.
US$59/month
Suits: Stores at about US$30k a month or more, or with a team or VA, focused on margin and repeat customers.
What you get
- Everything in Starter
- The full course: Grow and Run goals (margin, returning customers, a $1M-a-year pace, scaling)
- 90-day plans, a weekly meeting agenda and handover playbooks for a team
- Email flow blueprints: all 9 flows with full draft copy to paste into your email tool (for example Shopify Email)
- Google Ads guided setup: Performance Max and Search, step by step
- 150 AI write-ups a month
- Weekly report page: what is coming up and your next prep steps (a full personal weekly report is coming)
What “Do it for me” really does
- Everything Starter does for you.
- Writes all 9 email flows (timing, discount rules and every message) ready for you to paste into your email platform. Helix does not connect to email tools yet.
Your first week
- Day 1: margin and repeat-rate review
- Day 2 to 3: your 90-day plan
- Day 4 to 7: your first 3 flows (welcome, abandoned checkout, post-purchase) as ready-to-paste copy
Cancel anytime, in one click.
Cancel anytime, in one click. No lock-in.
All prices in US dollars (USD). Paid plans are monthly subscriptions that renew automatically until you cancel. Cancel in Plan & billing with one click; you keep paid features to the end of the month you paid for. See our Terms.
Plain and honest. Helix is self-serve software. It guides you step by step, and the only things it builds in your accounts are ad campaigns as paused drafts (Meta today, Google Ads coming soon), and only after you press Approve in Helix. Nothing spends until you turn it on in the ad platform.
Official sign-in. You connect Meta, Shopify or Google on their own screens. Helix never sees your passwords.
Encrypted tokens. Access tokens are encrypted before they are stored. Shopify access is read-only.
Disconnect any time. One click removes Helix's access and deletes the token and synced data.
AI with limits. Optional AI write-ups have a monthly allowance per plan. When it runs out you still get Helix's standard advice.
Ad Trends
What changed in ads this week, in plain English
Creator posts as ads (partnership ads) inside normal campaigns
Partnership ads run a creator's post as an ad from their own handle. Run them next to your regular ads, not in a separate test.
Try it: Ask your 3 best creators for ad permission and add their posts to your cold campaign as a batch.
Catalog product video on Reels
Catalog ads can show a video for each product instead of a still photo. You add the videos to products in your catalog.
Try it: Add a short product video to your top 20 products in Commerce Manager, then check your catalog ads use them.
Check the AI enhancements switched on by default
Some creative enhancements, like music, image filters and templates, are on by default. They may be changing your ads. Review them per ad.
Try it: Open one live ad, review creative enhancements, and turn off any that hurt your brand.
What Helix does
Tools to grow your online store
Free guides
Guides for e-commerce owners
- How to increase your e-commerce conversion rate
- Do you need an e-commerce consultant? A self-serve alternative
- The Shopify growth checklist
- How to reduce cart abandonment
- E-commerce SEO basics for store owners
- Break-even ROAS: how much can you afford to pay for a sale?
- The email flows every online store needs
- How to scale a DTC brand profitably
FAQ
Who is Helix for?+
Helix is built for stores doing $10k to $30k a month, and helps you reach $1M profitably. That is where it adds the most. It also works from your very first sale, and keeps helping as you scale past $30k a month. Pick Just starting or Growing when you sign up, and Helix sets your lessons and goals to match.
Is Helix an agency or a consultant?+
No. Helix is self-serve software that guides you to grow your store yourself. There are no calls or consultants. Your ad accounts, data and customers stay yours, and you approve every change.
Will Helix spend money on my ad accounts?+
No. Helix builds Meta campaigns inside your own ad account as paused drafts. You review them and press Launch yourself, and every budget change on a live campaign is yours to make. For Google Ads, or if you prefer to build it yourself, Guide me mode gives you a tested structure, example ads and a step-by-step checklist.
Which platforms work today?+
Shopify: on paid plans, Helix reads your orders, sales, refunds, product costs and stock once a day (read-only). Meta (Facebook and Instagram ads): Helix reads your results each morning and can build new campaigns as paused drafts. Meta connection is open to early testers now and opens to all stores after Meta's approval. You can also add numbers by hand, by CSV or from a Google Sheet. Google Ads and TikTok connections are coming soon. Email tools are not connected yet.
Can I cancel any time?+
Yes. Cancel anytime, in one click. No lock-in. Open Plan and billing and press Cancel anytime. You keep your paid features until the end of the month you paid for, and you can come back in one click.
How much does Helix cost?+
Free is US$0, Starter is US$29/month and Growth is US$59/month. All prices in US dollars (USD).
Does Helix use AI?+
A little, and only for writing. Your profit maths, store check and plan come from plain rules you can see. AI only writes short text when you press the button: a plain-English summary of your store check, ad copy drafts and answers to 'I'm lost' questions. Each plan has a monthly AI allowance, and when it runs out you still get Helix's standard advice. We never use your data to train AI models, and Helix tells the AI service to use only providers that do not train on your requests (for Gemini, that is Google's paid API terms).
I have never run ads. Is this for me?+
Yes. Every task is written in plain English with numbered steps, and some lessons include simple drawings of where to click. Any tricky word is explained in one line, like ROAS: how many dollars of sales you get for each $1 of ads.
Why does Helix talk about profit so much?+
Because profit is what you keep. A store can grow sales and still lose money. Helix shows profit first, sets a break-even line for your ads, and only suggests spending more while each sale still makes money.
Can Helix promise results?+
No honest tool can. Helix focuses on proven basics done consistently: know your numbers, test creative, fix the site, build your list, and compound small gains.