FAMILY FORTUNES
What’s it like to go to work with your life partner or sibling? Bakers Delight and Shingle Inn are two franchises which leverage the benefits of a family firm.
Putting the spotlight on two franchise brands with family at the heart of the business.
The word family can mean many things to different people. Family can bring you joy, love and sometimes the complete opposite. Often it’s really a mix of it all. Owning a business with your family may seem like a nightmare for some but for others it really is the magic that makes the business work.
Some franchises are family owned and this has some great benefits for franchisees like having a warmer and welcoming vibe within head office which can often translate to happier customers. But, like everything in life, there are positives and negatives associated with family owned businesses.
“A potential advantage associated with family run businesses are lower costs. Typically, family members are willing to make financial sacrifices for the sake of the business, in order to see better long-term returns,” says IBIS World analyst William McGregor.
“Consequently, during tough economic times, family run businesses may be in a better position to survive as they can reduce costs. Family run businesses often employ fewer people, which also reduces labour costs.”
Inside Franchise Business had a chat to two well-established franchises to see what being a part of a family owned business is all about.
BAKERS DELIGHT
For Bakers Delight it has always been about family. As a family-run business everyone is treated just like..well..family.
The first Bakers Delight was opened by Roger and Lesley Gillespie, in Hawthorn in 1980. Baking has been in the Gillespie family’s blood for generations so the business was founded on the back of a genuine passion for bread and decades of learning and experience. The success of the original Bakers Delight bakery in Hawthorn led to the establishment of another bakery and then another until the Gillespie’s went to try their luck with the business in the
US. During their time there they learned about the value of franchising and brought their knowledge back to Australia.
There are now more than 700 locations across Australia, Canada, the US and New Zealand.
Elise Gillespie, daughter of the founders, has now taken over the reins as joint
CEO with her husband David Christie.
Her parents are still involved as directors on the board and Elise’s brother Aaron runs the North American business as president. Other family members have even been involved in the business over time as employees of Bakers Delight or franchisees.
Gillespie says the family aspect of the business puts value long term goals rather than just worrying about short term targets. “We want our children to care about the brand as much as we do,” she says .
hile having a family owned franchise W has it perks due to the communal and familiar feel that the business possesses, Gillespie says she needs to be conscious of separating family and business at times.
“We’re always talking about business as a family, and we need to be conscious that the rest of our executive team weren’t a part of the discussion we might have had over dinner!”
Families often have their ups and downs and the franchisors find that communication and good advice helps to combat that.
“We’re very open and deal with issues head on before they become bigger issues. We also have great external advisors who keep us in line,” says Gillespie.
“We have a formal family council which is chaired by an external advisor. We run these meetings with the same professionalism that we would expect a board meeting to run.”
The co-CEOs say they never lose sight of the fact that the family business is made up of many smaller family businesses, the franchisees.
“We know they experience the same high and lows and the complexities of running a family operation that we do which allows us to approach things differently. Being a private company also enables us to be more agile in the marketplace and gives us more scope to take calculated risks and innovate where we need,” says Gillespie.
The franchise’s longer serving staff and franchisees in particular appreciate that they can speak directly with the owners.
“We have many people who have been involved in the business since the very early days and have formed close relationships with them,” says Gillespie.
“We believe the continuity of ownership is seen as important, but at the end of the day what really matters for staff and franchisees is doing meaningful work and getting well recognised and rewarded for it.”
The franchise says franchisees should have a passion for retail, a strong work ethic, a great leadership and must be community minded.
SHINGLE INN
Shingle Inn was originally established in Edward Street Brisbane in 1936 by the Webster family. Barbara and Noel Bellchamber bought a number of hospitality businesses from the Websters over the years, including Shingle Inn in 1975.
Bellchambers’ children Andrew and
Peter (who now run the business) together with their parents made the decision in 2007 to expand the café side of Shingle Inn through a franchising model.
The Bellchambers have been running family businesses for many many years - you could say it’s in their blood.
The business has family values through and through and wanted to allow other families to have a chance to run their own business. In December 2009 they franchised three of (then) eight company-owned stores, as well as two greenfield sites, to start their lives as franchisors with 10 Shingle Inn cafes.
Peter and Andrew have been involved the family business their whole lives. Business really is second nature to them.
“I don’t think the franchising element has changed our approach to the business, however, it has given us an appreciation for the fact that many of our franchisees are in family businesses themselves, working with their wives, husbands, brothers and sisters and children,” says Andrew Bellchamber.
“Both Peter’s wife, Noelene, and my wife, Louise, work in the business and Peter’s daughters have also worked in the cafes at various times during their school and university lives. My first child was born while our first franchisees were in training!”
The franchisor says Shingle Inn has been the backdrop for many family traditions for generations, especially in Queensland.
“It doesn’t matter where in Australia we open a store, without fail someone approaches me to recall visiting the original store with a grandparent or being taken there by their parents for a special occasion,” says Andrew Bellchamber.
The brother duo say that they appreciate the celebrations and challenges that come with operating a family business and the way this translates to the families that run their businesses within the Shingle Inn network.
“It can be important to create boundaries around work so that you don’t solely operate as a work-unit and can have family time as well. As a whole, our family has always utilised birthday celebrations and special occasions like Mother’s Day to get together and enjoy each other’s company,” says Andrew.
“It wasn’t a ‘rule’ not to talk about work at these functions but we rarely do. We use these opportunities to catch up on life outside of work, particularly the milestones our children are celebrating.
“Like many family business owners it is difficult to switch off as you tend to be constantly thinking about what needs to happen the next day, week, month, or even next year. As a consequence, I try to have at least one day during the week that I don’t do any work at home and I like to spend that time outdoors with the kids and exercising as I find that helps to clear my mind.”
The Bellchambers say they are not a confrontational family and have always had a structure to the way they approach work with monthly director’s meetings and an appreciation of what everyone brings to the table.
“Our skill sets are very different too which I think helps. Peter and Noelene are both accountants, while Louise and I have communications, business management and HR degrees,” says Andrew.
“It’s a rare occurrence that we’d be upset with each other and even rarer that we’d show it. We each have our roles and we get on with the job. It is an ethos that was instilled in us at a very early age.
“In any family business there’s generally a common goal; you all want a mutually beneficial outcome – a successful business. We have common values, a common work ethic and a vision that’s heavily aligned.”
The franchisor says a clear advantage has been employee retention.
“Our family culture has helped us retain team members for long periods, including one employee who has been working for us for over 35 years and a raft of others who have worked in the business for 10, 15, 20+ years,” says Andrew.
“This has always been a feature of our family business and it definitely benefits our franchisees as we’re able to offer continuity and an in-depth knowledge base from our team. We truly understand the long hours and the pressure of separating work and family time. I think [being a family run franchise] gives us a level of insight and compassion that may not be afforded to franchisees in businesses where the stakeholders are not directly involved.
“Many new franchisees tell us that the family component is one of the key reasons for joining the Shingle Inn network.”
Family culture is one of the cafe chain’s brand values. The Bellchambers want franchisees to feel like part of the family and use that vocabulary often. The quarterly group meetings are referred to as family forums.
“Franchisees pick up very quickly on the family dynamic so anyone who embraces that environment will tend to feel very comfortable from the initial stages of engaging with our brand,” says Andrew.