Stronger together

Covid-19 has shown us the power of togetherness

It’s been a rollercoaster of a year, and most of us will be happy to farewell 2020. The pandemic has been a social, medical and economic nightmare across the globe.

Melbourne has been particularly hard hit with its second lockdown, which at time of writing was easing with retail and hospitality firms once again opening their doors.

Sadly some franchisees have faced terrible times, and as the Pulse Check survey shows some have closed their doors.

Luckily there have been exceptions to the bad news, and as you can read in Insights (page 14), some well-placed businesses have seen revenues rise, even expanded their franchise numbers.

The latest survey reflecting on the September quarter indicated that franchisors generally were positive about business in 2021.

A crucial element to success will be the continuation of support for franchisees.

It could be support that is shaped by concerns for mental wellbeing, delivers revenue-boosting innovation or provides practical solutions for financial worries.

And that’s been the overarching strength of 2020 in franchising - the capacity for networks of individual business owners supported by hard-working and innovative franchisors to work together for a better outcome than could be achieved by solo efforts.

It remains to be seen what external support will be provided to help small business owners not just survive but thrive. In the franchise sector though, we’ve seen the power of togetherness, and that’s something that appeals to new business owners.

And at a time when surviving economic highs and lows over time is more important than ever, we celebrate significant anniversaries. Aussie gelato sensation Gelatissimo turns 18, while our cover story, mega franchise success Bakers Delight, notches up a massive four decades in business.

Franchisors talk of their franchise network as a family and like any good family, the best are looking after their own. Why not join and garner the benefits?

Here’s to a much better year in 2021!

Soaring sales at Pack & Send reflect the booming trend in ecommerce as the logistics firm shipped 241 per cent more online goods in the first quarter of this financial year than in the same period last year.

This mega lift in volume helped lead the overall business to strong growth of 28 per cent, achieving $20.5 million in revenue.

And that’s good news for franchisees, whose profits rose along with same-store sales growth.

Sales for the franchise network were strong across all three regions: Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Pack & Send CEO and founder Michael Paul said the brand’s strong growth is a consequence of the strategic course set before Covid-19, which included more than $5.2 million in technology investments.

Paul said “One focus is building more technology to help us win more sales in the

The chains are whirring for one fitness franchise as CycleBar expands in Sydney with a new three-studio deal. The first studio is set to open in early 2021.

Pending NSW Government guidelines in response to the coronavirus, each studio will house up to 50 bikes and offer at least 30 low-impact, high-intensity 45-minute classes a week.

Matt Gordin, the previous CEO of BikeExchange US and former GM of nationwide cycle store chain Bike Force, holds the Australian licence for CycleBar, under the Spin X Operations banner.

Spin X signed a 45 outlet franchise deal earlier this year and opened its first studio in Currambine, Western Australia in September.

Matt told Inside Franchise Business plans are well underway to continue Australian expansion throughout 2021. high growth ecommerce order fulfilment market including having our stores act as local fulfilment centres. This will give customers the option to hold stock throughout the Pack & Send network, enabling consumers to have same day delivery or pick up after placing an order on a web store.”

Battery World,

At new GM Johnny Kennedy (above) replaces Shawn Kerr, who now heads up the business.

Studio Pilates

has appointed former Specsavers executive and international franchising specialist John L. Scott as director of franchising.

Global real estate franchise network

has announced Andrew Friebe as new chief operating officer.

Harcourts International

Physio Inq

Burger Urge

has appointed Elizabeth Pearson as chief operating officer to lead and oversee both the Physio Inq Mobile Community Services as well as the franchise arm of the company.

Functional fitness chain Ninja Parc will open 10 further outlets in 2021, building on the two sites already operating and two more in the pipeline.

The corporate Newcastle outlet was joined 18 months ago by a centre in Townsville, the first franchised Ninja Parc. After reopening post-Queensland lockdown this centre has been doing “phenomenally well”, said John Perlo, the concept founder.

“Performance at the moment has been more than we expected, we’ve seen how quickly the community wants to gravitate towards this kind of activity. It’s been a very successful restart,” he said.

“We intend to open 10 sites next year. We had more on the plan but it’s been revised. Our main focus is on capital cities, large regional cities, then building a hub and spoke model,” said Perlo.

Franchisees will be able to take on multiple sites with the hub and spoke concept, with smaller outlets feeding the business and allowing franchisees to expand their business quickly.

The smaller footprint sites are around 600-700 sq m rather than the usual 12-1400 sq m.

“It will be the same style of equipment in a modified program so there are more interchangeable parts. It keeps it fresh for clients too” he said.

“Enquiries are coming up, it’s never been a better time to invest. People have made a change, think it’s time to move on from their career and look for a better work life balance.”

Print, mail box rental and shipping business Mail Boxes Etc. has just hit a milestone, opening its 40th Australian retail outlet. And there's more growth to come, with five stores slated to open before 2021.

CEO Clayton Treloar, who heads up

MBE Australia, said franchise enquiries have been on the rise since July, despite the Covid-19 situation. He's optimistic about further growth.

“It’s been a busy second-half to the year and we’re expecting steady growth over the coming months with a rise in franchise enquiries which has been very positive for us.”

Brand new franchisees Praveen and Sindy have opened the latest store, located in Port Macquarie in the New South Wales mid north coast.

The MBE team has also signed up new franchisees in Fremantle, Western Australia.

A new Melbourne location, as well as another three franchise grants confirmed, are among the locations line-up.

The Yiros Shop

has signed its first franchise with a store opening date set for December 2020.

Inaugural franchisee Atul Sakhiya will open his outlet at Jindalee, south-west of the Brisbane CBD and near The University of Queensland, Pinjarra Hills Campus.

UK-based has licensed its Australian operation to HR Franchise Group Pty Ltd trading as HR Dept Australia.

Pia Engstrom takes on the role of managing director and will head up an in-country head office team. The previous set-up had been a joint venture between Engstrom and the UK.

The founder and chairman of

Paul Constantinou AM, has been named the 2020 inductee to the Franchise Council of Australia’s Hall of Fame.

Members of the Hall of Fame are inducted for their embodiment of the values that underpin successful franchise operations and their contribution to ongoing success of the broader Australian franchising community.

Healthy fast food chain has signed a master franchise agreement which gives EG Fuelco exclusive franchisee rights to the Oliver’s restaurant brand in the petrol and convenience sector.

Oliver’s retains the right to expand its brand through corporate or franchised stores along major highways, in travel hubs, hospitals, universities and shopping centres.

Comparable sales at company and franchise stores grew 30.3 per cent between 1 July and 17 September, pushing profits up sharply.

Between the dates of 1 July and 31 August unaudited profit leapt 185.8 per cent to $178.1 million, compared to the $62.3 million for the same period of 2019.

founder Aaron Smith has secured a JV into China and is leading the way on R&D to create equipment unique to KX, which will start rolling out in studios from early 2021.

The HR Dept

KX Pilates

James Young, head of franchise sales and development at DC Strategy, said “We’ve seen that all of the hard work over the last six months – even during Covid – has finally built a solid foundation for the MBE network and it’s fantastic to see the new franchises up and running with more locations on the way.”

Earlier this year MBE told Inside Franchise Business the grand plan is to build the Australian franchise network to a sizeable 120 stores within five years.

MBE provides several income streams for franchisees across three different business models, from a full store, to mini store and kiosk.

The kiosk model starts at $50,000, the mini store costs from $80,000.

Quest Apartment Hotels,

Oliver’s Real Foods

Harvey Norman’s