Signwave – Andrew McKay, GM

Signwave’s core business, obviously as the name implies, is signage, however it’s probably progressed, as the industry has, into a much wider scope than we’ve ever had. We really are in the business of advertising solutions.
 
What do you look for in a franchisee?
We look for someone who’s come from outside the industry, so anybody who’s interested in running and owning their own business and has an energy and enthusiasm about running a business and about the sign industry. Someone who enjoys interacting with many different people.
 
What changes have you seen in the industry recently?
There have been many changes; over time, larger companies have seen the value of sign companies in particular where they are very much a one stop solution for their needs. Now they’re approaching the sign companies directly which has opened up many more avenues for us and it’s also increased our margins due to the fact that we’re offering more than just a product base service.
 
What does the immediate future look like for Signwave?
We’re certainly focused on growing the brand and the numbers but it’s probably not our main strategy right now. One of the things that we’ve been very upfront in saying to the group is that we want to increase everyone’s profits significantly and we want to ensure that everyone has a really healthy turnover and performance in that market place. That’s our main goal at the moment and to that end we’re actually going to be working with different coaching companies; we’re offering that to the group as part of an in-house service.
 
Do franchisees need experience or qualifications?
That’s the whole idea of franchising: you don’t need to come in with any particular skill sets in order to achieve a level of success. Having said that if you come in with previous management experience or previous sales experience, those things are obviously going to be helpful, equally if you’re more trade oriented that’s helpful as well.
 
What does a typical day look like for a franchisee?
No two days are the same because it’s a customised business so every product is made to order. It’s made as a solution to someone’s advertising problem or requirement. A typical day is to respond to enquiries that come through internet or phone, it’s going out to see people, site visits, and it’s overseeing all the different aspects of their own business to ensure the staff [are well] and products are going out well.
 
What are the investment costs?
$206,700 plus a royalty fee which is seven percent of gross monthly sales, and an advertising fund contribution of two percent of gross monthly sales.
 

Kwik Kopy – David Bell, MD

Kwik Kopy is a corporate design and print franchise. We’ve been around in Australia for nearly 30 years. We have 104 franchises operating nationally across all states, apart from the Northern Territory. It’s a business that is probably classified as a mature business, like a lot of print businesses, but equally it’s a business that is evolving quite rapidly with the advent of digital communications.  
 
What is the bulk of Kwik Kopy’s sales?
The core of the business is printing, in all its forms. So it could be anything from the very simple, basic stuff from stationery and business cards through to training manuals, board papers, marketing materials and we do quite a bit of wide format work – plans, posters things like that. We also have a significant component of design work that’s associated with us. We have a sister brand called 121 Creative and we’ve got 17 121 Creative studios that operate out of Kwik Kopy franchises and those handle the higher end designs, brand identity work, corporate brochure designs. Some of our clients prefer to deal with a design agency as opposed to what they see as a printer.
 
How is operating a B2B business different to a business-to-consumer one?
The difference is both the frequency and the size of the transactions and the personal nature of the transactions. So typically in a B2C transaction you don’t form a relationship with your customer, you don’t know their name or much about them because you’re in a retail environment so you’re seeing lots of people going through and spending small amounts of money on a regular basis. In our business it’s the opposite, you’re dealing with corporate clients who are spending a significantly larger amount of money on a less frequent basis and as a result you get the know them and importantly you understand their business and their needs and you tailor your offering.
 
How has the industry changed over recent times?
The industry’s always been very technology-driven but as a franchise we take care of that in that we recommend the equipment and the skills that the franchisee needs to have. At a more macro level, the biggest change that has happened in the industry over the past five years is the move into digital. People are communicating more and more via electronic mediums and less on the printed page so that’s had a big impact on the ability of our owners to tailor their product offering.  
The ink on paper, the printed page, is still the majority of the work we do but increasingly we’re involved with helping a client with a broader marketing plan.
 
What are the investment costs for franchisees?
$250,000 set up fee, includes 20 days of training in Sydney. The ongoing royalty fee is seven percent of sales and the marketing levy is one percent of sales for local marketing; 1.5 percent of sales for national marketing.
 

Snap – Stephen Edwards, CEO

What is the bulk of the work performed by Snap franchisees?
Half of the business is still printing and design and the other half of the business, digital applications. We’re pushing into website, e-publication and QR codes, and we’re hoping to be Australia’s number one provider of those products.

What changes have you seen in the industry over recent years?
There’s no doubt that the biggest change in the printing industry is the explosion of digital … it’s becoming very feasible for people to print digitally.
Digital means things need to happen quicker. I think one of the sad things about digital is that it’s all about files being sent in, so some of the relationships that used to happen at counters or going out, are more on email. I think that’s creating a bit of an issue. Some of our relationships are dropping away because it’s all email. It’s all about the client for us so we want to make sure that they can interact. We’ve got a whole new sales and marketing system about to be launched. It’s all around on the phone, on the email, at the counter, and external – trying to integrate a sales and marketing approach.
 
What do you look for in a franchisee?
Some of the big things we look for, outside of passion, is that they can liase with people. It’s pretty important that they have strong social skills and feel confident in the interaction process. It’s not all about the money at Snap, of course you need to have the money to buy in but it’s about how you’re going to represent the brand and deal with the customer base that we have.
 
What are the franchisees’ typical duties?
We generally advocate that the franchisee should own the major client relationships. We feel that as the owner of the business you can make strong decisions and you can control the destiny of some of the work and the print that’s going on.  
 
What are the investment costs for franchisees?
The investment ranges from $100,000 to $1million. Franchise royalties are eight percent and the marketing levy is two percent.

To read the first half of our printing and signage feature, click here.