Page 19 - Print21 Magazine March April 2021

Profile
“Our franchisees are committed to getting alongside their customers and working with them, and for the customers, a working relationship with a print expert is valuable.
Physical stores offer a click and collect model, where the customer can order online, design online, but come into the store to collect their job and discuss their work, their aims, their business, and the print, with the franchise owner. This, says Thame, is a real benefit to them, rather than just being offered a
click and receive model from the online print giants with no physical footprint. He says start-up business owners – a key target for Snap – are among those who value a face-to-face discussion, to gain an understanding of what is possible.
Physical stores were also key in
the Canva deal, Shwabsky says,
“For people using Canva’s online platform, having the Snap brand, well known and trusted, as the printer for their work is a real benefit, especially as they can go into the store and talk to the people doing the printing.”
Snap’s production model has evolved over the years. Most stores will have a digital print engine with trade suppliers used extensively, and more specialist equipment shared with nearby stores. Rather than having a website designer in each store, it will use them on demand.
Thame says, “Fundamentally, we provide print, and we see there is a lot of room for us to grow. We are looking at becoming more productive, at expanding our capabilities, at reducing costs, at servicing markets that we haven’t traditionally been in such as short-run packaging, signage, stickers and labels.”
He says that part of the role of the head office is to “join the dots”, with Snap investing significant resources and cash into developing new systems as the working environment changes. However, he says, “The customer-facing part of our business will not change. We know the market values this.”
At any one time, Snap will have half a dozen stores up for sale as owners look to exit the working life, and there are also opportunities for new stores; Snap has just opened one in Cairns, and another in North Harbour in New Zealand. Thame says he is proud of both of these, for many reasons, not least of which
is that all training has been done remotely, due to Covid restrictions.
With 1000 different franchise systems in Australia, there are a lot of choices for people looking to buy into one to run their own business. Thame says, “Snap scores highly, as a recognised brand, long-established, serving a necessary market.” Thame and Shwabsky are full of examples of print growth to counter the doom and gloom merchants. Start-up Naked Wines, which began with 500 cases of wine given away to make a noise, is now shipping 500,000, with Thame pointing out that each one of those has a flyer inside.
“Print will play a major part... a hybrid model where we marry print with the digital world will reap great rewards.”
— Richard Thame, CEO, Snap Print & Design
Thame himself had options before joining Snap as CEO. However,
he says, “I saw a tremendous opportunity in a business with great people. I didn’t see Covid, of course. Snap is still owned by the families
of the founders and carries with it the ethos of those days – service the customers, support the staff. The company has a board of non-execs with the governance structure of a public company. Thame’s decade in the world of courier franchising will surely serve Snap well.
Snap’s ideal franchisee is someone who has high people, sales and
operational skills. Its franchisees
do not typically come from a print background, although some do, and the company encourages existing print business owners to join the Snap brand. There is the annual fee, of course – a percentage rather than a fixed amount – and the company says the level of support and input is more than worth it.
Network support
One of the major benefits of being
in a franchise group is the suport
as the owner opertaor you receive, particuarly from other owner operators. Shwabsky says, “Being an independent print business owner is challenging. You have so many aspects to consider yourself: IT, marketing, production, staffing, sales, business management, and you are in a highly competitive environment. Snap franchisees have a great network of like-minded owners to share their issues with, and head office takes care of a large range of issues, leaving the owner to get on with selling.”
Snap also has mobile-only stores, with five currently running. Under this model, the business owner is effectively a print agent, visiting clients, taking orders, farming out the print, with no store of his or her own. Thame says, “It still focuses
on customer-facing, and is under the Snap brand. It works in certain situations, and we have been pleased with its development.”
Shwabsky says, “Local community is at the heart of Snap, and Snap is at the heart of the local community. Snap Print & Design franchise owners are there to support the local community; they are there
for the long haul and committed to providing the best communication solutions for their local businesses, organisations and institutions.”
Thame says, “Snap franchisees are problem solvers, they are passionate, they are invested
in their communities and their customers, and the NPS reflects that and is a great result. The Snap Print & Design focus on customer solutions, with our hybrid online and in-store approach, is clearly hitting the mark.”
As the print industry reinvents itself for the digital era, the optimism of the top team at the country’s biggest print franchise group is refreshing. Seeing the new world as an opportunity, and making those opportunities reality, is good for them, their franchisees, and the whole print industry. 21
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