Franchisee Finds Success in Print

Source: Sunshine Coast Daily

Date: 24 October 2007

Franchisee finds success in print

Andrew Robertson admitted he knew nothing about the printing industry when he started managing the Worldwide Online Printing franchise at Spring Hill in January 2003.

He was so concerned about that lack of knowledge he negotiated a deal with the company to manage the franchise first, with an option to buy it later in the year if he liked what he saw. He did like it, bought the franchise nine months later, and last month was named the Franchise Council of Australia's national franchisee of the year.

Since he started, Mr. Robertson has increased annual turnover four-fold in the four years, increased staff numbers from himself and one employee to 14 full-time staff, and in July this year, bought the Worldwide Online Printing franchise in Rowe's Arcade in the Brisbane CBD.

So how do you go from nothing to being recognised as the best franchisee in the country in four years?

According to Mr Robertson, the two crucial things many business people don't understand are: 1 - the difference between profit and cash flow, and 2 - knowing how your fixed costs impact on the bottom line.

"I can look at a profit-and-loss statement and know in two minutes if there is a problem, what it is and how to fix it," he said.

And on fixed costs, he used the example of a business with $50,000 monthly fixed costs and a profit margin of 50%.

"If your revenue is $60,000, you make $5000 profit. But increase your revenue by 16% to $70,000, and you double your profit to $10,000," he said. "Understanding your fixed costs is the key."

To be successful in business in the 21st Century, however, it isn't all about the bottom line.

You need a positive workplace culture and need to find the right staff and engage them in the business so they want to stay.

And on that front, Mr Robertson has employed an unusual strategy that has clearly worked. "There's no doubt the business was struggling when I took over. The first thing I did was to find a person who knew more about printing than me to manage the business," he said.

"Then I started looking for staff, and I deliberately targeted people who didn't know much about the industry, but had the right attitude. Worldwide Online Printing has got excellent training systems, so we could train them up if they had the right attitude.

"I was incredibly fussy. Some jobs have taken up to six months to fill because it's taken that long to find the right person."

"Once I had the core people (the first three or four) we sat down and came up with a business plan ... and everybody had equal input."

The strategy worked from day one, customer numbers growing from 90 to 400 in the first year.

Not only do staff have input to how the business operates and where it's headed, they also get a share of net profits.

"Everybody is on salary, plus profit share. And we do it on a completely open book basis. They all know exactly how much the business is making every month, and how much I'm making as the owner," Mr Robertson said.

"Other business owners are surprised at that, but I don't think it's that courageous. I don't see what the problem is opening the books to the staff. I can tell you it works."

Location: http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2007/oct/24/franchisee-sees-success-print/