How to Curate Your Product Range and Find the Right Stock Balance for Your Small Business

It’s easy to get carried away when you’re passionate about your products. You want to offer something for everyone, test new ideas, and make your store or website look exciting and full. But before you know it, you’re knee-deep in stock, short on cash, and juggling a product range so wide that even you, or your customers, can’t make sense of it.

Having a large range doesn’t just strain your cash flow, it also drains your time and resources. Every new category you add needs its own SEO strategy, photography, product descriptions, and marketing. All of that takes time away from what’s already working.

Getting the balance right between enough choice and too much choice is one of the trickiest parts of running a product-based business. That’s where curating your range, so you have the right mix of products and categories, and managing your stock strategically really pays off.

With almost 20 years’ experience in retail, helping big brands and small independents alike understand their numbers and stock smarter, here’s my no-nonsense guide to creating a range that feels cohesive, profitable, and perfectly balanced.

Step 1: Understand Your Ideal Customer Before You Choose Your Product Range

Before you even think about what products to stock, you need to know exactly who you’re buying for. If your product range is built purely around what you love or what’s trending on TikTok, you’re leaving profit to chance.

Your range should be shaped by your customers’ lives, needs, and motivations, not just your personal taste.

Start by building a clear picture of your ideal customer:

• Transformations: What outcome are they looking for? (Do your products make their life easier, help them express their style, or solve a problem?)
• Lifestyle: How old are they, what do they wear, where do they shop, and what kind of work do they do?
• Needs: Are they looking for a gift, something practical, or something to better their home or wardrobe?
• Wants: Are they buying to treat themselves, invest in quality, or support a small brand?
• Struggles: Are they short on time, overwhelmed by choice, or unsure what will suit their space or style?
• Barriers: What might stop them buying, price, delivery times, confidence, or lack of guidance? And how can you make the process easier for them?

If you’ve already been trading for a while, you don’t need to guess, the answers are in your data and audience:

• Run quick surveys or polls (in-store, on email, or social media) to see what your customers want more of.
• Check your sales data to see which categories perform best and which are slow to move.
• Look at your social and email analytics to see who’s following you and engaging with your content.
• Use Google Analytics to see how people are finding you and which search terms or products attract them.
• Research competitor overlap: Which other brands are your customers shopping with, and how does your range compare?

The key is combining data (what customers actually buy) with insight (what you learn through conversation and community). When you truly understand your audience, you can curate a range that speaks to them and not just fills your shelves.

Step 2: Curate Your Product Range and Set Sales Targets for Each Category

Think of your range like a wardrobe,  it needs the right mix to work. You’d never fill your wardrobe with just trousers and only have two tops as getting dressed would be a nightmare!

It’s the same with your products. You need a balanced mix of reliable staples, stand-out statement pieces, and fresh seasonal updates. Enough variety to keep things interesting, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming or confusing.

Use Your Data to Build a Category Mix

If you already have sales history, use it to see how much each product category contributes to your total sales. This helps you understand which areas drive sales and which might be taking up space without delivering cash.

📊 Category Mix Formula
Category Sales ÷ Total Sales × 100 = % of Sales Mix

Example:
If dresses make up 30% of your total sales, roughly 30% of your stock budget should go towards dresses.

Your category mix can also be applied to profit, stock levels, or even marketing effort, helping you allocate your time and money where it counts most.

If You’re Just Starting Out

Your ideal mix will depend on your type of products, but it’s best to start small and focused. Choose a few key categories that match your customers’ wants and needs so you can get them performing well before adding more.

Ask yourself:

• What problems or needs do my customers have?
• Which products do they use or buy most often?
• Where can I offer variety without creating overwhelm?

For example, if your customers value easy, everyday outfits, the majority of your range might be dresses and co-ords.

Keep tracking what’s selling and what’s slowing down. Your category mix should evolve with your customer, not just with your mood board or supplier catalogue.

Step 3: Work Out How Many Products You Actually Need Per Category

So, how many products do you actually need in each category? The honest answer is as few as you can get away with.

A smaller, tighter range is almost always better for your cash flow, time, and resources. There’s no magic number that works for every business, but you can use your sales (or sales targets, if you’re just starting out) to sense-check what’s realistic for you.

Here’s a simple way to work it out

Example:
Let’s say your total sales target is £100,000 per year.

1. Work out your category’s share of sales
   If dresses account for 30% of your sales → £100,000 × 0.3 = £30,000
2. Find your average weekly sales
   £30,000 ÷ 52 weeks = £577 average weekly sales
3. Divide by your average selling price
   If your average dress costs £50 → £577 ÷ £50 = 12 units sold per week
4. Decide how often you want to sell each product
   If you’d like each dress style to sell twice a week → 12 ÷ 2 = 6 products

That means your business could comfortably support around six dress styles at any one time.

Of course, this isn’t fixed. You might increase your range slightly during busier periods like Christmas or peak party seasons, then pull it back during quieter months. Use your core number as a base to plan from.

💡 If you want to dive deeper into how to calculate the perfect number of products for your small business overall, visit my blog: How Many Products Do You Really Need in Your Small Business? The same logic applies by category, this is just a more detailed way to sense-check whether your range size makes sense.

Remember, this is a guide, not a strict rule. Don’t panic if you’re slightly over your target.
Some categories will always sell faster than others, if one is performing well, it may justify a few extra lines, while slower areas might need trimming back.

The goal isn’t perfection, it’s balance: a range that feels curated, profitable, and easy to manage and shop.

Step 4: Review and Refresh Your Product Range Regularly

Your product range should never be static. Even the best-curated range needs regular check-ins to stay profitable and relevant.

Set aside time each month to review your sales and stock data so you can spot trends early:

• What’s consistently selling well?
• What hasn’t sold in three months or more?
• Which categories are overstocked or underrepresented?

Use Your Category Mix to Guide Decisions

Your category mix calculation isn’t just useful for planning, it’s also a powerful review tool. You can apply the same logic to your sales, profit, stock, or product count to see which categories are performing and which ones are holding you back.

Example:
If one category makes up only 5% of your sales or profits, but 20% of your products sit there, it’s a red flag. You’re tying up cash and storage in an area that isn’t paying its way. In this case, it’s worth reducing that category so you can focus your energy on what’s performing.

On the other hand, if 80% of your sales come from only 20% of your products, that’s a sign of strength. It might be time to expand that area, add new colours or complementary products to make the most of that momentum.

When it’s time to make changes, you don’t always need to slash prices straight away. Try:

• Running small clearance offers or bundling slow movers with best sellers.
• Re-merchandising or styling products differently to give them a second life.
• Testing whether underperforming products might just need better visibility or new photography before you discontinue them.

You can take this review process beyond your main categories, too. Apply it to:

• Scent type if you sell candles.
• Colour or size if you sell apparel or homeware.
• Genre if you sell books or art.

Whatever your product type, the goal is the same: to understand where your time, money, and space are best invested.

Regular reviews keep your cash moving, your shelves fresh, and your customers coming back for what’s new,  all while helping you stay in control of your stock and your profit.

Building a Profitable and Balanced Product Range

Curating your product range isn’t about having more, it’s about having the right range.

When you:

• Understand your audience,
• Curate intentionally,
• Review regularly, and
• Reorder strategically…

…you’ll have a range that looks cohesive, sells consistently, and keeps your cash flowing instead of sitting in a stockroom.

Because when every product earns its place, you’re not just building a business, you’re building a brand that feels considered, confident, and profitable.