The Work Started Before the Brief Did
Feedback offered with the client’s permission became a five-area business review, a three-phase roadmap, a working pricing calculator, and an initial HubSpot setup.
- Client
- Lids & Tees
- Industry
- Custom apparel and promotional products
- Role
- Brand & Growth Strategist
- Scope
- Business review, roadmap, pricing calculator, initial CRM setup
- Location
- Clarksville, Texas, serving Midland-area clients
The work began with observation.
An existing relationship, event support, and later side work gave a close view of how the business ran day to day. Recurring inefficiencies were easy to see. With the client’s permission, those observations became a broader business review.
Production in one place, growth in another.
Midland-area clients include local businesses, schools, and industrial and oilfield accounts. The distance affects turnaround, shipping cost on smaller orders, and flexibility for rush requests.
Five operating areas, each with a clear finding.
Production and logistics
ObservedPrinting and fulfillment happen in Clarksville, while much of the client base is in the Midland area.
RecommendedCompare local production options on cost, turnaround, quality, and flexibility.
Inventory
ObservedExcess stock tied up cash and storage, with no forecast or reorder thresholds.
RecommendedAudit stock by age and sellability, then bundle, clear, or donate slow items.
Pricing
ObservedSome customers saw prices as high and supplied their own blanks. There was no tiered pricing.
RecommendedStandardize cost inputs and markup guidance, then present pricing in tiers.
Brand and marketing
ObservedSocial posts lacked calls to action, the visual style varied, and there was no content calendar.
RecommendedTighten the visual system and set a simple, repeatable content plan.
Customer systems
ObservedNo system tracked client history or follow-up, and quoting and invoicing were manual.
RecommendedA lightweight CRM, a short post-order survey, and a quote-to-invoice workflow.
Taken together: strong relationships and real room to grow, held back by inconsistent structure in how work was priced, coordinated, communicated, and followed through.
Three phases, three actions each.
The roadmap covered several operating areas because the findings were connected: pricing shaped how value was communicated, and follow-up depended on better customer records. Each step adds structure around the relationships that already bring clients back.
- 1
Operational realignment
Evaluate local production options. Liquidate or repurpose excess inventory. Standardize vendor and pricing systems.
Progress
- CompletedPricing calculator, built as part of standardizing pricing
- RecommendedLocal production comparison, inventory audit, and vendor comparison matrix
- 2
Brand and market presence
Refresh the brand identity. Restructure the pricing model. Launch a social media content plan.
Progress
- RecommendedBrand guideline document, Good/Better/Best pricing guide, and scheduling and content templates
- 3
Customer experience and systems
Implement a CRM. Launch a customer feedback loop. Automate quoting, invoicing, and follow-up.
Progress
- StartedHubSpot contacts entered and initial next-step fields set up
- RecommendedFeedback survey and quote-to-invoice workflow
The full roadmap paired each action with tools and resources, more than 20 in all, from HubSpot and Google Sheets to Canva Pro and Printavo. A fuller paid engagement was scoped but did not go ahead, so the complete plan and materials were handed over for the client to use.
A calculator for consistent quotes.
Pricing touched every order. Customers questioning price, some bringing their own blanks, and no shared markup guidance all pointed to the same gap, and a spreadsheet tool could go into daily quoting right away. The calculator gives every quote the same path from job costs to a suggested price and margin.
Estimated gross margin after overhead: 33%
Overhead is added before the markup, so it raises the price but not the margin percentage: the margin equals 1 minus 1 divided by the markup multiple. The delivered workbook calculates it the same way.
Quick Price sheet
Delivered workbook · placeholder figuresAdvanced sheet
Delivered workbook · placeholder figures| Category | Item / Description | Blank Cost ($) | Ship per Unit ($) | Decoration Cost/Unit ($) | Labor Minutes | Labor Rate ($/hr) | Overhead % | Amazon Sourced? (Y/N) | Markup Multiple | Qty | Unit Cost (Material+Labor) ($) | Unit Cost + Overhead ($) | Suggested Price ($) | Total Price ($) | Gross Margin % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outerwear | Softshell jacket, left chest embroidery | $32.00 | $1.25 | $8.00 | 6 | $30.00 | 10.0% | N | 1.60 | 12 | $44.25 | $48.68 | $77.88 | $934.56 | 37.5% |
Category guidance. A third sheet sets a suggested markup range for each of five product categories, with notes on decoration and sourcing. The ranges are working guidance written for the calculator, not historical pricing for the business, so they are not published here.
Delivered, started, and recommended.
- Five-area business review
- Strategic roadmap and full roadmap with tools and resources
- Summary proposal and cover letter
- Pricing calculator: Quick Price sheet, Advanced sheet, and category guidelines
- One in-person strategy session
- HubSpot: contacts entered, initial next-step fields set up, and guidance given on importing existing customer data. Reporting and the full pipeline were not completed.
- Local production comparison and vendor matrix
- Inventory audit
- Brand guideline document
- Good/Better/Best pricing guide
- Scheduling and content templates
- Feedback survey
- Quote-to-invoice workflow
Results. No revenue, margin, turnaround, or other performance results were tracked. Continued use of the calculator and HubSpot, and implementation of the remaining recommendations, have not been confirmed.
What this work demonstrates.
Hover, tap, or focus a capability to see the example from this engagement.
Five areas reviewed from direct, day-to-day observation.
Findings ordered into three phases of three actions, with pricing first.
A working calculator with quick and detailed sheets and category guidance.
Recommendations for the visual system, tiered pricing, and a content plan.
A CRM, feedback, and quote-to-invoice plan matched to free and low-cost tools.
HubSpot contacts and next-step fields entered. Reporting and pipeline not built.
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