A smaller portfolio with more room to grow

This is what we worked through with Lucia, the designer behind LucLac. The brand had an established name, original designs, a loyal audience and more than 15 years of dedication behind it. From the outside, it looked like the success story of a creative brand that had found its place in the market.

But beneath the surface, there was a problem. Marketing and sales depended far too heavily on Lucia herself. On her activity, her content, her energy and her reach on social media. Add an enormous product portfolio, low margins, an employee, a stockroom full of fabric and declining organic reach on social media, and the brand found itself creating a lot and working hard, while its commercial approach failed to bring in enough money.

The problem was not that LucLac lacked value. Quite the opposite. The problem was that the brand's value was not properly reflected in its sales approach, product range, pricing and messaging.

So we sat down with the data, the portfolio and the day-to-day reality of running the brand. We worked through the three core stages of Grow Up:

1 - Analysis

We began with the hardest part: facing the facts. LucLac was a typical example of a brand with a strong creative identity but a weaker commercial structure to support it.

Over the years, Lucia had built a brand around original work. She started with hand-painted T-shirts and paintings, later added her own dress and T-shirt designs, and gradually established a presence in home décor too: prints, cushions, blankets and accessories.

But all of this had a downside. The portfolio was too broad. The online shop carried a large number of products, categories and collections. Yet the business did not have the budget or capacity to hold stock efficiently across such a broad range or advertise the entire portfolio sensibly.

From a sales perspective, the whole system was built primarily around Lucia. Posts, stories, messaging and organic reach. Sales depended on how active she was and how much attention social media happened to give her.

Looking at the products, we found another fundamental problem. They were not grouped by stock turnover and profitability. The annual sales cycle was not being factored into decisions. Products were created more on instinct than on the basis of their commercial potential. And some had razor-thin margins, a major problem in a segment with high added value.

The brand’s messaging did not make its value clear enough. The online shop had an older visual design, its unique value proposition (UVP) was not communicated prominently, and categories had artistic names rather than customer-friendly ones. That suited the brand's creative spirit, but made advertising, selling and customer navigation more difficult.

We quickly realised that the creative work was not the problem. The problem was the system meant to turn that work into a healthy profit.

2 - Setting realistic goals

After the analysis, it was clear that the goal could not be to “do more”.

More products, more collections, more stories, more handmade work. That would only mean more chaos. And it would accelerate the problem that already existed.

The goal was the opposite: to create a simpler, more profitable and better-managed sales system.

We needed to structure the brand so that Lucia would not have to keep making more, but could earn more from the things she made well. So that sales would not rely solely on her daily social media activity. So that the products in the online shop would make commercial sense, as well as look beautiful. And so that a new customer could understand more quickly what made LucLac different.

We therefore defined several key goals:

• simplify the product portfolio
• increase the margin per order
• improve stock turnover for selected products
• make customer acquisition more efficient
• clarify the brand’s messaging

LucLac did not need more creativity. There was plenty of that. It needed a commercial framework that could finally support it.

3 - Strategy and plan

The Grow Up framework gave our strategy its structure.

We knew we had to work in four areas: sales, stock turnover, products and messaging.

In sales, we automated customer acquisition by setting up PPC campaigns more effectively. The aim was not to replace Lucia as the face of the brand, but to reduce the brand’s reliance on her organic social media activity for sales. This gave the brand greater control over its sales and Lucia more time for important work.

To improve stock turnover, we cut the number of products in the online shop by approximately 50%. This was an important step. Fewer products did not mean a smaller brand. It meant better control over what was made, what sold and what made economic sense. Lucia can now make selected products for stock, and their immediate availability helps them sell faster.

We also added products from successful categories that are quicker to make. This was not about creating more work for the sake of looking busy, but choosing work more carefully to give it a better chance of selling sooner.

We grouped products by profitability. We removed those with minimal profit and limited potential. We linked sales to an annual cycle and adjusted the pricing formula. As a result, Lucia does not have to produce more to achieve better results. She simply needs to produce more strategically.

We also improved the online shop’s messaging and the way the brand presented itself. As a designer, Lucia was able to create a new visual design herself using Shoptet's design templates. She began communicating her UVP more clearly, which was then reflected in advertising too. The online shop's categories are now easier for both customers and advertising platforms to understand.

What were the results?

After approximately three months of work, LucLac was in a significantly healthier position.

Online shop revenue increased by approximately 100%. Order value rose by 17.5%. The margin per order increased by 46.2%. And just as importantly, product portfolio development is now systematic rather than purely intuitive.

Summary after approximately 3 months:

• 50%approximately fewer products in the online shop
• +100%online shop revenue
• +17.5%order value
• +46.2%margin per order
• a systematic approach to developing the product portfolio
• better control over customer acquisition

The brand still rests on the same strong foundations: original creative work, a distinctive identity and a community. The difference is that a better system now supports them.

The problem was not the brand. The problem was the system meant to sustain it.

What does this mean for LucLac in practice?

Fewer products = better control over the portfolio.

Better pricing = a higher margin per order.

More effective advertising = less reliance on organic reach.

Clearer messaging = easier decisions for customers.

Faster production of selected products = better stock turnover.

A systematic portfolio = less chaos and more profit.

Lucia no longer has to push to keep producing more and more new things. What matters is making the right things, at the right time, with the right margin and the right messaging.

Grow Up is not about killing creativity with numbers. It is about creating a system in which creativity can earn money.

What did Lucka say?

“The results really started to come through in the way they had been presented to me. Realistically, logically, practically and within the timeframe we discussed during the consultations.”

Lucia – LucLac