How We Raised Prices, Lost Clients, Won Them Back — and Surpassed the Competition

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to speak on Žinių Radijas’ show “Sėkmės Receptai”, where I shared some of the biggest lessons we’ve learned at PrestaRock — the good, the bad, and the surprising. One of the most critical insights? For a long time, I undervalued my own work.

I never charged clients for project management or system analysis. I considered those roles “not worth billing for” — as if only development hours had real value. This made our services appear cheaper than they actually were when you looked at the outcomes we delivered. In reality, clients were getting full-service e-commerce consulting — strategy, support, implementation — for the price of a programmer.

I also believed that all clients deserved equal treatment. Whether it was a solo entrepreneur launching a new shop or one of the largest retail chains in Lithuania, we consulted thoroughly, generously, and for free.

But that idealistic thinking didn’t hold up.

In truth, smaller-budget clients often needed more attention, explanations, and emotional support. They spent their limited resources carefully and expected a lot in return. That meant we were overserving demanding clients who brought in less while underserving the high-value clients who needed fast, focused delivery. The result? a lose-lose situation.

The solution was to focus on working with those who needed us most and could pay for quality.

Guided by hard-earned lessons and business coaching, we started changing our policies. We began charging properly for consultations and strategic input, especially in cases where a client needed several meetings to agree on the same point others grasped immediately. This led to a natural filtering of our client base.

In 2020–2021, some clients had to wait longer or pay the same rates as our larger clients. A few decided to leave. We were too slow and too expensive for them. But it was the right call.

We also parted ways with team members who didn’t align with our core values — delivering quality, going the extra mile, and focusing on outcomes. It wasn’t just about skills, it was about mindset.

While we doubled down on delivering high-end, custom e-commerce projects for major clients, we quietly experienced some of the most successful years in our history. What we didn’t notice was what was happening around us.

During that time, PrestaShop exploded in popularity in Lithuania. It became the platform for new e-commerce ventures, and service providers sprang up on every corner, like the wild west of post-independence entrepreneurship.

However, most of these providers lacked the technical depth and architecture knowledge that PrestaShop demands (compared to, say, WordPress). Worse, their mindset was rooted in “just finish the job,” no matter the quality. And even finishing the job was a rare achievement.

In the end, there were only two serious PrestaShop agencies in Lithuania: us (PrestaRock) and another company that worked mainly abroad and was priced far above the local market.

What happened next? Clients who had left us, thinking we were too expensive or slow, returned. They asked:

“What’s your secret?” “Why can’t anyone else get even the basics right?”

The answer is simple and what I shared on air: My success story is built on sticking to my values. High standards. No shortcuts. Even when it was hard, even when employees or clients pushed back.

I’ve been criticized for being “too strict.” Some former employees couldn’t meet the bar, making me a “bad manager” in their eyes. But I’d rather hold the line than compromise our quality.

It’s not easy. It’s risky. You don’t want to become a “one-man show.” You want a team that shares your vision — and walks in the same direction.

Looking back, something interesting happened: The “difficult” clients—the ones who didn’t want to pay, who looked for loopholes or free work—ended up working with our ex-employees or low-quality agencies. But those agencies lacked the skills and management systems we had already built with TOC and LEAN. These partnerships were doomed from the start.

The result? Endless conflicts. Delays. Chaos. Eventually, clients returned to us. No more price arguments. They waited in line. They were grateful. And they finally understood: the grass isn’t greener. Quality costs more — and it’s worth it.

And for us? That realization forced growth. In 2020–2021, I understood that I can’t stay stuck in operations. I was already the bottleneck. If we wanted to grow, I had to grow first.

It was time to scale — for real.