Page 73 - Print 21 Magazine May-June 2019

People in Print
the OVERflow Shake-up for signs as Jim’s cuts in
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The sign and print industry is facing a major shake-up, as the country’s biggest
franchise operator Jim’s is coming into the sign, print, promotional products and uniforms sector, initially offering sign businesses,
and sign employees looking to set up on their own, the opportunity to market under the Jim’s brand.
The move is likely to result in serious turbulence for existing smaller sign shops who are competing only on price, as based on the experience of other industries, the Jim’s brand will sweep up a serious part of the market.
Operating as Jim’s Sign
& Print the businesses will join almost 4000 other Jim’s franchisees in a range of activities, in what is a $500m a
year operation. Price to become a Jim’s Sign & Print franchisee has not yet been finalised, but it will be less than $30,000, with an ongoing monthly fee likely to be less than $1000.
The move by Jim’s has been driven by the directors of national signage supplier Major Media. Speaking to Print21 its co-director David Field says, “Becoming a Jim’s franchisee will give signage companies a point of differentiation apart from price. It will also give them access to the knowledge, experience and suppliers of Major Media, although that is a separate company to Jim’s Sign & Print.
“It is also likely to impact on smaller signage businesses that are operating with cheap materials and processes. The Jim’s brand will operate to a national standard set by us.”
Signage shake-up: Jim’s enters the sign and print market
Field says franchisees
will also benefit from work being passed onto them by Major Media, which operates nationwide, and is looking
for accredited franchisees to handle work for it. There are actually two divisions being set up, Jim’s Sign & Print, and Jim’s Uniforms, the latter though is mainly for stay at home mums
Jim’s has already launched Jim’s Signs & Print in Victoria and will open into other states
over the year. It says that, “Eventually we will cover the whole of Australia and New Zealand, with an aggressive growth strategy already in place.”
The Jim’s model is for each state to have a franchisor, who looks after the franchisees. Queensland will be the next state to have a franchisor. Franchisees will be territory based, but will be able to keep existing clients outside their assigned territory. Calls to the Jim’s call centre will be allocated by territory. Last year Jim’s call centre took 800,000 calls.
Jim himself is a fascinating character. His real name is David Penman, he launched his first franchise Jim’s Mowing in 1989, and now has 50 franchise operations. Known as a hard- nosed businessman, he once fired his own sister, who has not spoken to him since. 21
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Print21 MAY/JUNE 2019 73