Tocco Toscano, a homegrown luxurious leather-based items model, has a wealthy historical past. Based by Joseph Lor’s father in 1987, the model has come a good distance from its humble beginnings as TOSCANO in Italy.
Joseph’s father first found his love for leather-based craftsmanship when he was required to bind leather-based bibles as a part of a rehabilitation program in Singapore. He later took on an apprenticeship in a small workshop in Florence, Italy and discovered the intricate strategies of leather-making from a neighborhood craftsman named Mr. Stefano.
Deeply impressed by the craft, Joseph’s father purchased the licensing rights from Mr. Stefano and introduced the model to Singapore, the place he renamed it to Tocco Toscano and fine-tuned the merchandise for the Asian market.
He began by producing his personal leather-based belts and offered them door-to-door, finally convincing department shops to hold them, and increasing the product line to incorporate luggage and wallets.
Nonetheless, by 2016, Tocco Toscano was dealing with a significant disaster — the rise of e-commerce and on-line purchasing had led to a downtrend in brick-and-mortar companies.
As my household enterprise was primarily located in department shops, it step by step turned unsustainable and we had been shedding out on a good portion of the buyer market that had already moved on-line for purchasing. In addition to, there have been a number of conventional enterprise practices that had been shortly changing into outdated/out of date, and my father may not hold tempo with it.
– Joseph Lor, CEO of Tocco Toscano
The enterprise was on the point of closure, and that’s when Joseph determined to take over.
From “the boss’ son” to the boss
Joseph, who had a background in Math and Science (B.Sc in Biomedical Science and B.Eng in Electrical and Electronics Engineering), had no prior expertise within the leather-based trade.
He had helped out with the enterprise in areas like gross sales and operations throughout his teenage years and after commencement, however taking up the enterprise was an enormous leap.
Joseph was pushed by a deep sense of obligation to the household enterprise, a fascination for the craft that he grew up with, and a need to make a distinction. He knew it could be a steep studying curve, however he was up for the problem.
Naturally, I did really feel a way of possession and felt that it could be a waste if I didn’t give it a very good shot to avoid wasting the enterprise. … Even when it did fail in the long run, I may stroll away realizing I gave it my greatest.
– Joseph Lor, CEO of Tocco Toscano
Joseph basically began from scratch, making errors alongside the way in which. There was quite a bit for him to study, guaranteeing that that the totally different points of the companies are environment friendly and cohesive. Moreover, he needed to sort out the problem of rising the enterprise on-line.
One other large problem he confronted was incomes the respect and belief of the staff. A lot of them considered Joseph as simply “the boss’ son” and had been immune to the adjustments he wished to make. Nonetheless, as they noticed the outcomes of his efforts, they slowly turned satisfied of the viability of his concepts.
Revamping his father’s leather-based enterprise
One of many key methods Joseph set Tocco Toscano other than different leather-based bag manufacturers was by making the model extra consumer-centric.
Joseph made it a precedence to speak with clients and potential clients, gathering their enter and suggestions by way of focus teams, surveys, and even private conversations. This strategy allowed Tocco Toscano to create merchandise that weren’t solely aesthetically pleasing, but in addition purposeful and versatile for on a regular basis use.
Along with being consumer-focused, Tocco Toscano additionally made an effort to discover different supplies to leather-based, resembling upcycled apple waste, canvas, and several types of nylon, to create higher and newer merchandise.
To rejuvenate the enterprise, Joseph additionally applied a number of adjustments throughout the board. The primary side was to realize a optimistic cashflow.
He analysed previous gross sales to find out which merchandise offered properly and targeted on manufacturing these merchandise. He additionally took over a salesman position at one level of time to scale back manpower prices, and began itemizing merchandise on on-line marketplaces like Lazada and Zalora, in addition to launched pre-orders to extend income.
Moreover, Joseph targeted on constructing new channels, predominantly the model’s personal web site. He acquired new clients from a youthful demographic on-line by creating social media pages and designed merchandise that had the next likelihood of doing properly each on-line and offline.
Final however not least, Joseph rebranded Tocco Toscano to vary shopper notion of the model. It created a youthful and extra related illustration of itself with a brand new emblem, model colors and the likes, in addition to secured collaborations with totally different manufacturers, firms, and people to faucet into their buyer/fan base.
We have now accomplished just a few attention-grabbing collaborations not too long ago, such because the upcycling of life vests and seat belts with Singapore Airways and launched a limited-edition assortment with Hi there Kitty in 2022. We’re additionally a Made With Ardour model, which is an thrilling milestone for us to be recognized amongst the highest native manufacturers.
– Joseph Lor, CEO of Tocco Toscano
The pandemic renewed their concentrate on on-line gross sales
In addition to cashflow and elevating the model notion, the subsequent largest problem for Tocco Toscano was extra people-oriented, significantly hiring the proper folks and managing a workforce properly.
Joseph admits that he’s not significantly good at relationship administration, however is striving to be higher at it daily.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused its personal set of challenges for Tocco Toscano. With retailer closures and a shift in shopper behaviour, the pandemic had a major impression on their offline channels, resulting in a decline in gross sales. Nonetheless, the Tocco Toscano workforce noticed this as a possibility to concentrate on different points of the enterprise, resembling rebranding and technique.
They began an abroad workplace in Thailand to deal with native gross sales, together with a efficiency advertising and marketing workforce to deal with international on-line gross sales.
We had already began pushing on-line gross sales earlier than COVID-19, which noticed respectable development when the pandemic struck. These pre-emptive adjustments and shifts within the enterprise undoubtedly gave us an edge over our opponents, who didn’t actually till the pandemic hit.
– Joseph Lor, CEO of Tocco Toscano
Step one of their on-line push, the launch of the Aimee tote sequence in 2018, amassed S$1 million in gross sales inside simply 11 months.
“After that, issues simply sort of labored out. It’s actually a lot simpler when your first step just isn’t a misstep — you may have higher cashflow which you’ll leverage, repurpose your current content material for social media adverts, and begin constructing a web-based presence from the get go. From there, you get extra flexibility with all the pieces else.”
Enterprise income elevated 15-fold
When Joseph took over the enterprise, he didn’t elevate any capital, counting on the earnings from his facet enterprise, Faire Collective, to assist construct and shift the corporate.
Since Joseph’s takeover, Tocco Toscano broke even after only one 12 months and has seen spectacular development. Though precise figures can’t be shared, Joseph revealed that the model’s income has elevated 15-fold, rising from a complete annual income of S$9,000 in 2018 to over seven figures now.
Relating to market growth, Joseph acknowledges that it’s not a straightforward feat, particularly when getting into international nations the place there are language obstacles, lack of connections and data in shopper behaviour, and navigating totally different points from logistics to advertising and marketing.
“Due to this, I typically attempt to develop to international markets by way of licensees and distributors,” stated Joseph.
He added that crucial issue when contemplating growth is to seek out the proper associate or particular person to supervise operations. If the proper particular person is in place, he then evaluates the relevance of the product to the market by way of type, design, and worth level, and eventually, the estimated prices versus the potential upside.
Transferring ahead, the corporate’s future enterprise plans embrace getting into extra offline markets and solidifying its on-line presence. At the moment, it has its eyes set on constructing its presence in Thailand, and finally getting into the US market. It additionally hopes to develop its product providing in Indonesia, beginning with eyewear.
As a second-generation proprietor, Joseph takes his father’s recommendation to coronary heart. His father at all times valued loyalty, so he taught him to maintain the people who find themselves each loyal and hardworking. Because the saying goes, ‘while you maintain your workers, your folks will maintain your corporation’.
Now as a seasoned entrepreneur, Joseph too has recommendation for younger entrepreneurs: “by no means relaxation in your laurels, continually innovate, and at all times look to study and enhance”. By following these ideas, Tocco Toscano has grow to be a profitable and thriving model, and Joseph hopes that different younger entrepreneurs shall be impressed to do the identical.
Featured Picture Credit score: Tocco Toscano
