Karen Canlas
About the Company
Karen Canlas' luxury branding studio is centered around providing personalized branding and web design for high-end businesses and entrepreneurs. The company's focus is on delivering a bespoke, tailored experience that matches the specific needs and desires of each client. By working closely with her clients, Karen helps them elevate their brand to embody the luxury mindset. The studio emphasizes strategic branding that reflects both the client’s business and personal brand essence, attracting top-tier clients. Karen’s work revolves around empowering clients to embrace their highest potential through luxury-focused design.
Karen initially started her business by focusing on online service providers but later pivoted toward luxury brands and entrepreneurs, solidifying her niche. Her business model involves understanding client needs deeply and using strategic insights to create distinct, high-end brand identities. With her guidance, clients are able to develop more confident, high-profile branding, which leads to higher recognition and business success.
Through her journey, Karen has refined her service offerings to specialize in both branding and web design, with a focus on luxury aesthetics. By continuously learning and adapting her strategy, she has been able to build a sustainable business that caters to a select clientele seeking premium branding solutions.
Idea Behind Company
Karen Canlas' business was inspired by a combination of personal ambition and unexpected circumstances during the pandemic. While studying Accountancy at university, Karen realized that she did not want to spend her time idly. Motivated by the self-development book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," she was driven to take immediate action toward her entrepreneurial goals. Her initial foray into the business world involved freelancing through Upwork, which allowed her to gain experience and build connections despite being a newcomer.
Karen’s interest in branding and web design was sparked by her work as a virtual assistant, which eventually led her to discover a passion for luxury branding. With the mentorship of Elva Li, who ran a luxury branding studio, Karen realized that her true calling was in creating high-end, luxury-focused designs. This realization helped her clarify her business direction, and she decided to move away from general freelancing to focus on luxury branding, where she felt most aligned.
The pandemic allowed Karen the opportunity to refine her ideas and focus on developing a business that not only reflected her interests but also filled a market gap. Her idea was to create a branding studio that offered more than just surface-level design, focusing instead on deeply strategic and empowering brand transformations.
Creating the Company
Karen began her business while still attending university, juggling her studies with her new venture. Initially, she started by offering virtual assistant services on Upwork, where she gained valuable experience and connected with her first mentor. However, it was through working on branding and design projects that Karen truly found her passion. She began offering free branding services to a few entrepreneurs to refine her skills and test the market for her services.
After receiving positive feedback and realizing the demand for luxury branding, Karen began formalizing her business. She launched her services focusing on brand design and Squarespace web design, which allowed her to offer comprehensive branding solutions. Market research, strategy sessions, and an understanding of her ideal clients helped her craft offerings that appealed to high-end service providers and lifestyle brands.
With the guidance of her mentor and the completion of a brand strategy course by Bonnie Bakhtiari, Karen was able to solidify her business processes. She took a thoughtful approach to building her brand, investing in herself and her services while remaining true to her vision of providing a luxury experience for her clients.
Launching the Business
Karen launched her luxury branding studio by leveraging Instagram as her primary marketing platform. She decided to focus on one or two platforms initially, rather than spreading herself too thin across multiple channels. Karen strategically used Instagram to tell her brand story, sharing behind-the-scenes content and sneak peeks of her work to create anticipation for her official launch.
She implemented a soft launch strategy by building connections with her audience through storytelling, which aligned with her brand's luxury focus. After completing her Squarespace website, Karen executed a formal launch by sharing her website with her audience and consistently posting about her services. Within two weeks of her official launch, she secured her first client, who discovered her through her initial platform, Facebook.
Karen credits the success of her launch to her confidence in her offerings and her ability to show up authentically online. Her launch was not just about selling a product, but about sharing a story and a vision that resonated with her ideal clients, which contributed to attracting her first customers and establishing her brand in the luxury space.
Earnings
Since launching her business, Karen has experienced consistent growth in both her revenue and her personal development as an entrepreneur. From charging $200 for her initial services, she has scaled to earning $3,000 per month by offering premium branding and web design packages. Her ability to attract high-end clients has allowed her to significantly increase her pricing, with individual client projects now ranging between $2,500 to $3,000.
Karen’s earnings have grown as a result of her clear brand positioning and her focus on providing value through luxury branding. Her mindset shift toward embracing the luxury niche has been pivotal in her business's financial success. Additionally, she has plans to diversify her income streams by launching group programs and courses, allowing her to serve more clients while scaling her business model.
Looking forward, Karen envisions expanding her service offerings while continuing to elevate her luxury brand. She remains focused on serving a select group of high-end clients while preparing to introduce more scalable products such as courses and group coaching programs that will further increase her earnings and impact.
