Page 66 - Print 21 Magazine March-April 2019

Business
Print a good move
Manny Gerassimou had an unconventional route into print, but the Kwik Kopy Fitzroy owner is putting his ideas into practice, investing in a Konica Minolta AccurioPress C3080 with inline booklet-maker.
The new AccurioPress C3080 was equipped with an inline booklet maker, which Gerassimou says has freed up about 20 per cent of labour. The SD-513 incorporates a three- sided trimmer and saddle stitcher. It can take both cover and body stock, collate them into a booklet and crease folded edges with full print coverage, resulting in a professional look and feel. Gerassimou says, “It is a brilliant system, the automation means complete books pop out at the touch of a button. I am over the moon with it. The sky is the limit.”
Banner printing and envelope printing options were also added
to the configuration, meaning
Kwik Kopy Fitzroy has been able to offer more to its expanding customer base - and in quicker time.
He has also been developing the customer base, and now has work coming in from his territories, as well as regional Victoria, interstate and some from New Zealand. The work from outside his designated territories comes through the web-to-print system. This enables a business or an organisation to allow its staff or members to order print by accessing the Kwik Kopy web- to-print, going to the appropriate
Not everyone in the print industry would describe it as buoyant, but Manny Gerassimou is one who would, and the
buzz around his Fitzroy Kwik Kopy franchise store bears out his view.
Gerassimou is a relative newcomer to print, having taken control of the Fitzroy store three years ago. As a qualified engineer, who did a post graduate in marketing, worked as
an engineer, before moving to IT with IBM, and along the way owned several restaurants in Melbourne,
he can certainly claim to have had a breadth of experience in his working life that few could match.
He came to print as he was looking for his own business, and was working through a checklist of both industries and businesses. He says, “I saw print as a market that, even with digital disruption, had legs, had opportunity. A print business also had acceptable entry costs.”
The connection with Kwik
Kopy was made when he saw the franchise as an established system, “particularly useful for me with little previous experience in the industry”, says Gerassimou, “I needed someone to hold my hand while I became established, the Kwik Kopy system seemed thorough, considered, and with a high level of expertise.”
Gerassimou had an opportunity to buy the Fitzroy store on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD, which is one
store with two territories. He says, “It was ideal for me, but even if this store had not come up I would have bought another.”
Three years ago he bought the store, and set about developing the business. It was a steep learning curve, understanding the industry, the business, the market and the customer base. He says, “In the first two years I have been focusing on transformation and sustainability. I have been bedding down the systems and looking at investing in new production technology.”
Part of that investment has now been realised, with a new Konica Minolta AccurioPress C3080, which comes with the SD-513 saddle stitch finisher and banner option. It is the first Konica Minolta at the Fitzroy Kwik Kopy. Gerassimou says, “Our main production printer was coming to the end of its lease, and I wanted to see what other options I had. After a thorough analysis of the market the Konica Minolta AccurioPress C3080 was clearly the printer that was in front, in its quality, in its productivity, and its versatility.
“In addition, Konica Minolta has always been there in terms
of communication, the follow-up, the support. The company visited and helped me identify growth opportunities. They also opened my eyes about the possibilities of new applications on a new digital print system.”
“The future is bright, no doubt about that, and my confidence is not coming from myself, this is the feedback I am getting from customers.”
— Manny Gerassimou, Kwik Kopy Fitzroy
Future is bright: Manny Gerassimou, MD, Kwik Kopy Fitzroy, with the Konica Minolta AccurioPress C3080
portal, and ordering print using the approved assets – the specified fonts, images, and templates. Gerassimou says, “It is a great system, it allows print ordering by multiple people with no risk of error, and with simplicity for the user. It can also integrate with the website of the company or organisation. It is a real no-brainer for many of our clients, and works really well for us, I just get notification of the job to be done, we download the file and print straight onto the AccurioPress C3080, the versatility of the machine means it can handle a variety of jobs.”
Three years in as a print business owner and Manny Gerassimou is describing the industry as buoyant. He says, “The future is bright, no doubt about that, and my confidence is not coming from myself, this
is the feedback I am getting from customers, and the amount of print we are doing. Coming into print was a good move.” 21
66 Print21 MARCH/APRIL 2019