Louise Curtis is the founder and managing director of Lollypotz, a Canberra-based online and retail business specialising in chocolate gift bouquets.

Established in December 2008, Lollypotz is a fast growing franchise operation with 25 franchises nationally.

Despite her success, Curtis is not prepared to rest on her laurels. There are plans to roll out another 35 franchises nationally and to take Lollypotz international.

I have a saying stuck on the wall of my office, she says. It says ‘don’t let the best you have done so far be the standard for the rest of your life’. That’s how I like to live my life.

In true rags to riches style, Curtis left school at 15 with no qualifications but soon discovered a natural flair for business management, facilitating the growth of her employer’s business from a two-person operation to one employing 50 staff in five offices nationally.

Curtis moved to Canberra to open a branch office of a mortgage brokerage and when she was unable to source attractive, top quality gift hampers to send to clients, the savvy businesswoman started making her own. It wasn’t long before she realised the potential of the idea and launched her first business, online and retail corporate gift supplier Hamperesque, from her living room. It was an immediate success in 2003; the business now dispatches up to 50,000 hampers annually.

In 2008, Curtis won the Australian Capital Territory’s Telstra Business Women’s Awards’ Yellow Business Owner and Nokia Business Innovation categories for her work with Hamperesque.

Last year saw the introduction of chocolate treats in hand-made bouquets. The business was born out of frustration at trying to achieve a same-day service for Hamperesque. I went down the path of trying to franchise it but it was too hard because of the stock – we carry $300,000 worth of stock. People didn’t look at this as something to spend that much money on getting into.

So she bought a chocolate bouquet business, changed all the stock and put in a new range which brought in 500 orders straight up.

I wanted to spend the Telstra Woman award money on something innovative so I split the business in two. Ninety per cent of the orders are online, and we have a call centre here and as orders come through they are sent out to franchisees. We had 40 orders this morning by 10.30, she reveals.

Now Curtis is getting same day delivery and customers are getting hand-made bouquets filled with chocolates from the likes of Cadburys and Ferrero Rocher, and luxurious additions such as a bottle of champagne.

The response to the innovative retailing concept has caught everyone, including Curtis, by surprise. If you’d asked me 12 months ago, she says, there’s no way I would have foreseen the success of Lollypotz. I thought it would be a younger market but it’s not. It’s taken me by surprise. It’s a very popular gift to give to men, and for all ages. Corporate is our market. We’ve had thousands of orders for Christmas already and it’s only October, Curtis adds.

A mother-of-two, she believes her greatest achievement has been launching a new business with a young family and managing to find a balance between the two. One of the reasons Lollypotz has been as successful as a franchise is that it’s an easily-adaptable, flexible business for mums, she adds.

The franchise offer
Franchisees can invest $45,000 and a small amount of stock to work from home (it peaks at $10,000) or can get in a retail outlet including fit-out for $70,000 – the size varies from a tight 15 square metre CBD kiosk to a 50 square metre outlet.

Retail franchisees benefit from passing trade and getting continual business online; as delivery charges are extra, all franchisees can add to their income by delivering bouquets in person rather than using a courier. Whether home or shop-based, franchisees hand-make the bouquets.

This is a five and a half day job, I don’t want people working seven days a week. It’s predominantly Monday to Friday 9 to 5 but we do deliver outside these hours. It has been set up to be ideal for mums. I thought it a great opportunity if they have kids as it is not too much money to get in.

Not all franchisees are female though, with husbands and brotherly partnerships getting in on the act too.

The plans are for national coverage, including regions (the regional franchise cost is about $25,000) but Curtis recognises the need for good exposure without overkill.

The business has accrued 23 franchisees in six months and plans up to 70. No more, we don’t want to be overexposed. By June we hope to have 35.

Curtis is already looking to set up a master franchise in New Zealand then expand to Canada within three years. For a young, fast growing franchise the temptation to expand overseas can be substantial but in the delivery of this, maintaining the core business can be threatened.

I think we can support it. Had I not had my other business experience I could understand people’s scepticism but the franchise model was born from something already working. We have learned from seven years at Hamperesque.

Mindful of the need for support Curtis has invested $200,000 in a computer system, has appointed a national franchise manager and has stock control and a call centre. Now there are 17 staff instead of five six months ago.

We can only show business results for three to four months, but already it’s three times Hamperesque, Curtis reveals.