The Challenge

Grife Bruna de Faveri is a growing lingerie and swimwear retailer with multiple store locations and an in-house production facility. The company had built a loyal customer base and was expanding its physical footprint. However, behind the scenes, the business was struggling with a critical problem: nobody had a clear picture of what was actually profitable.

The company operated with scattered financial systems. Each store tracked its own numbers. The production facility kept separate records. Pricing decisions were made with a simple markup approach, without understanding whether products actually covered costs. Store managers didn't know their true margins. Leadership couldn't see which locations were truly profitable and which were draining resources.

"We were making sales, but we didn't know if we were making money," one team member reflected. Costs were classified inconsistently. Transfers of merchandise between stores were treated as simple cash movements, not as actual sales and purchases. The company had no integrated view of profitability by location or product line.

This lack of visibility created real problems. Pricing was inconsistent. Some products had negative margins and nobody knew it. Capital was tied up in inventory and production without clear returns. The team couldn't make data-driven decisions about which stores to invest in, which products to push, or how to allocate resources. Growth was happening, but it felt chaotic and unsustainable.

The leadership team knew something had to change. They needed a financial system that would give them clarity, enable better decisions, and support the next phase of growth.

The Solution

The team at Grife Bruna de Faveri decided to rebuild their financial foundation from the ground up. They started with a clear goal: create one integrated financial view that would show true profitability by store, by product line, and by business unit.

The first step was implementing a unified DRE (Demonstração do Resultado do Exercício—a comprehensive income statement) that consolidated all stores and the production facility. This wasn't just about putting numbers in a spreadsheet. It meant reclassifying every cost, separating variable costs from fixed costs, and treating inter-store merchandise transfers as actual business transactions with revenue and cost implications.

Next, they introduced contribution margin (CLD) as the core pricing discipline. Instead of a simple markup, every product now had a clear target margin. Lingerie items needed to hit specific contribution margins. Swimwear had different targets. Resale products were priced separately from in-house production. This meant every price decision was now tied to a clear financial goal.

The team also restructured how they tracked costs. They separated costs by store and by business unit. Salaries, rent, utilities, and other fixed costs were allocated fairly across locations using a transparent rateio (allocation) system. Variable costs—taxes, outsourcing, packaging, freight—were tracked separately so the team could see the true cost of each product.

"The moment we could see our real margins, everything changed," a key stakeholder noted. "We stopped guessing and started deciding."

The implementation required discipline. The team created standardized chart of accounts. They built templates for monthly reporting. They trained store managers on the new system. Most importantly, they committed to monthly reviews where every store's performance was discussed openly, with clear metrics and no surprises.

The cultural shift was just as important as the technical one. Leadership made it clear that financial transparency was non-negotiable. Every team member understood that their decisions would be measured against clear, data-driven targets. This wasn't about blame—it was about empowerment. Managers could now see exactly what was working and what wasn't.

The Transformation

The results came quickly. Within months, the company had a complete financial picture. They could see which stores were truly profitable. They could identify which products were winners and which were draining margin. They could forecast cash flow with confidence.

The growth numbers tell part of the story. The company achieved 28% year-over-year growth in 2024. But the real breakthrough was the flagship store, Marechal, which grew 367% in the same period. This wasn't luck—it was the result of being able to identify a high-performing location and double down on it.

Beyond the headline numbers, the transformation unlocked deeper benefits. Store managers now had real-time visibility into their margins. They could adjust pricing and product mix based on data, not intuition. The production facility's true cost was finally visible, enabling strategic decisions about in-house production versus outsourcing.

Cash flow improved dramatically. By implementing automated receivables processing and better inventory management aligned with sales patterns, the company reduced its working capital needs. The team could now forecast which months would be tight and plan accordingly.

The integrated DRE also revealed opportunities for cost optimization. The team identified redundant systems and cancelled them. They renegotiated supplier terms based on better visibility into cash flow patterns. They restructured compensation to align incentives with store profitability, not just individual sales.

Perhaps most importantly, the company built a foundation for sustainable growth. Every new store opening, every product launch, every pricing decision is now made with clear financial discipline. The team knows what profitability looks like. They know how to measure it. And they know how to achieve it.

"We went from hoping things would work out to knowing exactly what we need to do," a team member reflected. "That confidence changes everything about how you run a business."

The journey isn't finished. The company continues to refine its processes, explore new sales channels like live selling, and optimize its store portfolio. But now they're doing it with eyes wide open, armed with data, and aligned around clear financial targets.

For Grife Bruna de Faveri, the transformation from scattered operations to integrated financial management wasn't just about better numbers. It was about building a business that could grow with confidence, make decisions with clarity, and scale with discipline. That's the foundation for the next chapter of growth.