Page 20 - Print21 Magazine May-June 2022

Print Business
.../continued from page 18
He believes pretty much everyone is capable of being passionate and creative about what they do, that feeds into his own self-description of what adds value.
“I think my openness, candour and sincerity encourages others to share their goals with me. I try to help support creative people bring their goals to life. That is what I strive to achieve in life. I really believe that
all people can be creative about what they do when they’re passionate about it; if they’re passionate about music they’ll bring music to life, if about art they’ll bring pictures to life, if about numbers, they’ll even bring a chart of accounts to life!”
The ‘whole of business’ review
was presented at Kwik Kopy’s 40th anniversary conference in April at the Sofitel, Darling Harbour. To
fund the review the Penfold family have invested their entire dividend from the business, treating it, as he says, “Like a venture fund would, investing in re-making the business”.
Recovery and
room to grow
It’s a matter of some pride for Penfold that no Kwik Kopy store became a casualty of the pandemic. Despite the lockdowns, the support the franchise delivered to its stores helped see them through, and position them for recovery.
“We didn’t lose any stores on account of Covid. Most of our businesses have traded through. Now there’s clear evidence the business is coming back very well. Even so, it has been a tough couple of years and everyone wants it to come back. You just have to be patient. You have to adapt your model.
“At Kwik Kopy we’ve doubled down on our financial management support. We run real-time profit and loss, and cashflow tracking right across the system. Every week our support team meets with the franchisees and coming out of it we’ve a much more robust financial management platform. That’s something we’ll be taking further.”
Penfold is also buoyed by
the success of the first regional greenfield site in many years. Opened in Shellharbour, south of Sydney, within its first year it has recorded
a “top ten” monthly sales result, exceeding budget and expectations.
“It’s run by Suzan Lindsey, partner of Paul Lindsey, a former Franchisee of the Year and owner of the Five Dock
20 Print21 MAY/JUNE 2022
Below
Strategic whole of business review: Matthew Penfold
business. Paul had, in turn, become
a franchisee after having worked
in a couple of Kwik Kopy centres, including the one I bought in Darling Harbour. When he and Suzan learned we had a greenfield opportunity in Shellharbour, they wanted it.”
Its success gives Penfold encouragement for his target to grow the franchise by 50 per cent in the next five to eight years. While there are identifiable greenfield opportunities all over, Kwik Kopy is under- represented in WA and QLD, while having no sites in NT. It’s strongest in NSW and Victoria, and there are still plenty of greenfield sites available in capital cities and the regions.
“For new centres we look for a density of employing businesses,
a mix of enterprises. There isn’t a secret formula of what makes a good mix; we work on business population metrics. Every area we open up has
a different profile. The important thing is that we match the profile
of the area with the profile of the franchisee.
“It’s about putting a square peg
in a square hole. In a downtown
CBD situation, it’s somebody who’s comfortable building relationships with people in suits. In an industrial suburb, it’s probably someone comfortable with hi-vis. In a regional town it’s someone comfortable building relationships with people in boots. It’s
all about the people.
Do as I do
Matthew Penfold is no executive in an ivory
tower. He bought a Kwik Kopy franchise in
Darling Harbour in 2018, determined
not only to understand the
dynamics of the business at ground
level but also to lead by example. In
both cases it has proved
to be a success.
“I’m probably unique in
the world of franchising for
being an active chairman and an
active franchisee. I’m in my store
every day, even very occasionally
running the
folding machine,” he laughs, “I deliver to customers, make sales calls, and I use the system provided by the franchisor.
“Six years ago, I was a probably
a bit of a protagonist on the board,
I felt there was room for a more growth-focused strategy. When a local franchise came on the market, I said I’m going to buy it because I want to see what it’s like. While I was confident that what we were delivering to franchisees was good,
I wanted to test that. As it turned out, I was impressed with the system as a franchisee, but I certainly became more aware of improvement opportunities too.
“It helped me understand. When franchisees meet me at conferences as a board member, they say, ‘I’m pretty happy here but there’s some stuff you could do.’
“Now I know exactly what they’re saying. They loved it when I came on board as a franchisee. They thought, ‘Good, now he’s going to know what we’re talking about. Let’s see how he goes.’
“And we’ve gone well. In three years we grew the business by 50
per cent. Then Covid came and it knocked us for six. In April 2020
our business traded at 15 per cent of the average prior six months. But by December it was back to 75 per cent.” That was the impact in the Darling Harbour market, epicentre of the international tourism and events industry. The impact has been quite varied across the network.
Penfold is convinced the franchise is set to grow and succeed now the pandemic is slackening off. He believes in the value of the Kwik Kopy brand and the purpose, values and culture – and most importantly the people – behind the business.
And for the company, and the industry, he believes that the outlook and customer pool is bright, he says “Some people are bearish on print, but I don’t buy that at all. Now
more than ever people have a need for connection, engagement and a sense of solidity. Print gives you that connection, stimulates the senses and forms a deeper engagement. Print makes the intangible tangible. Every bit of marketing is becoming short-run, and Kwik Kopy is in the short run business.”
With such a strong vision, and one that that includes 100 per
cent carbon neutrality, the Penfold drive augurs well for the 90 current franchisees, and those that will be joining them. 21