FAMILY FORTUNES
How do you turn an established firm into a disruptor? One family has shown the way, proving tradition is nothing without innovation.
Three generations’ passion for the print industry.
Three generations of the Penfold family are heavily intertwined with the Kwik Kopy franchise, serving the brand across all elements of the business, from chairman to franchisee. But it all started with the family firm ...
Stephen Penfold joined the WC Penfold firm in 1956 with printing very much in his DNA.
The firm had been established 126 years earlier by a convict bookbinder, and it became WC Penfold with William Clark Penfold’s purchase in 1886.
So it was perhaps inevitable that in 70 years the tradition of the Penfold family business would continue with Stephen.
“I just grew up in it. It was discussed at breakfast, my father absorbed it completely, it had been there forever,” reflects Stephen.
He loved the mechanics of the print industry, and of business. His first lesson was ‘ Forget about your toys, understand the customer’.”
Stephen was selling the idea of a gravure press for a buttermaker. A good sale is all about understanding what’s important to the customer, he says. In this case it was cows and milk. So rather than focusing on all the bells and whistles of the machine, he talked about how it could be used for butter wrappers.
Those early years proved a great education in strong business principles. Of these, three stand out for Stephen:
Understand your customer, and what they want and need.
Benchmark your business.
A business runs on up-to-date systems. It was these three business principles that led Stephen to US-based Kwik Kopy.
“I looked at instant print and could see the brand was building trust with customers, it was benchmarking, and as a franchisor it had good systems. So we bought the licence.
The first Kwik Kopy Centre opened in Sydney’s CBD in 1982 and was run by Stephen’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Mary and Reg Waite.
When WC Penfold decided to offload its Kwik Kopy franchise business just a few years later, Stephen seized the opportunity to purchase the business. He left the family firm and became the franchisor for Kwik Kopy Printing in Australia in 1985.
“In the very first years, when you think about it, we were a disruptor. It was a very settled industry; if you wanted letterheads you had to order 1000 and it would take a month.”
In contrast, Kwik Kopy could deliver 500 later that day.
“We could only do it one colour, preferably black,” laughs Penfold. “But customers loved it.”
Kwik Kopy reinvented itself as a colour printer business and became a communications partner for its clients. Stephen’s son Matthew explains.
“It was about marketing. Now, most marketers see print as an essential part of their communications strategy and one that is tangible to customers.”
He points out that 30 years ago nearly everything the business printed ended up
By Sarah Stowe
in a filing cabinet. “Administrative printing was the basis for running the business, and clients ran their business using paper. Computers got rid of filing; they didn’t get rid of paper.”
Stephen led Kwik Kopy into the digital era, strategically transitioning the business from offset printing to xerography, then to desktop publishing and colour copying.
More recently, Kwik Kopy has emerged as one of the fastest growing businesses in the wide-format and signage space and has also built a software-as-a-service (SAAS) offering, launching Print Speak in 2013.
However, as Matthew points out, while technology has evolved significantly, the three business principles his father cites haven’t changed at all.
“Our business is still built around those. We allow our franchisees to benchmark and compare with each other, in a robust way.”
By 1992, system-wide benchmarking was mandatory at Kwik Kopy, which clusters its franchisees into performance groups. “We need to understand what the best of the best looks like,” he explains.
FRANCHISE SUCCESS
Matthew has taken on MD and CEO roles at the firm, and since 2016 has been the Kwik Kopy franchisee at Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
He knows what it takes to get the business operating at full speed, and what franchisees need to deliver results.
“We’ve been successful because there is sincerity in the depths of the relationships we have with franchisees,” he explains. “They’re engaged in the industry. They know we are committed to benchmarking and learning, we’re the coaching team. It’s our job to take them further. We don’t have a business if franchisees don’t have success. If franchisees run highly profitable businesses, we’ve got a good franchise system.
“The drive has to be to make them profitable. That’s a core part of Kwik Kopy.”
The danger for any franchisor is to ignore the entrepreneurship in the network, suggests Stephen.
“Most franchisors when they start do not bring business skills to the table, they bring good ideas, a brand and how to run a store. In any franchise system, 20 minutes after the first one is sold, the franchisor stops being at the cutting edge and has become the teacher and trainer. If the franchisor is smart, he picks up the best of the best around him and incorporates it into the system.
“We were lucky. I was experienced, Kwik Kopy had systems so I started out with them embedded, and we built benchmarking in to our agreement.”
WORKING WITH FAMILY
Second-generation Kwik Kopy enthusiast Matthew recognises he’s been lucky to be part of the family business. “From the minute I joined the franchise, it felt inevitable. I just loved it. Stationery seemed a bit retail, commercial printing seemed too industrial. I didn’t have Stephen’s passion for pulling things apart. But I did have a passion for marketing.
“Dad was doing a great job, opening an opportunity, a door, providing mentorship when appropriate, but what I really felt, Dad was being a great family business person because I was the beneficiary of that, of three generations of experience.
“Certainly there were challenges but Dad did it better because of his experience.”
Kwik Kopy’s success has been helped by clarity about individual boundaries and tasks.
“At any one time, we are very, very clear about our responsibilities and roles. Dad stood down when I was running the company,” says Matthew.
“When I took over Kwik Kopy we acquired Signwave. This was strategically important because it also gave me clear water to sail in; he was busy with the start-up.”
Stephen shares his perspective on what it takes to successfully navigate a family-owned business.
“I’ve seen businesses when family doesn’t recognise that someone coming in has to bring skills. They have to have empathy with the culture, and a desire for the business. You have to be hungry. My father was hungry. I want to be successful.”
It’s an approach equally valid in the search for great franchisees.
“When I look at attributes for franchisees, we want people skills and an orderly mind, but I want to see someone who wants to get on in life.”
Both Stephen and Matthew now hold non-executive roles in the company. “That’s got to be the most enjoyable time, we have so much fun, we have very complementary skills and it is really effective. We’ve got a CEO [David Bell] who understands our skills.
“My sister Annalise joined the board, she’s avidly interested in family business.”
The next generation of an extended Penfold family is lining up to continue the heritage print connection, and help sustain the Kwik Kopy brand.
Says Matthew, “My eldest Eloise is in finance, my partner’s two sons have roles in operations: Michael is a business development manager, Daniel is a franchisee.”
Matthew’s daughter Eloise works with him in the franchise outlet.
A FUTURE IN FRANCHISING
Matthew believes the continued investing in the business by members of the family is a big tick for the brand.
“I stepped down as CEO but stayed on the board, I love the industry, franchising helps grow businesses, and I love my printing heritage. In Mum and Dad’s cellars we have copperplates for printing for old clients such as retailers Mark Foy’s and David Jones.
“When I was CEO print was the product. I focus more on franchising as a non-executive director.”
Working on franchising wasn’t enough for Matthew, though. So when he had the opportunity to purchase his own franchise, he snapped it up.
“I just wanted to get more hands-on back in. The local franchise in Darling Harbour came on the market, just as we bought a home in Glebe. I knew he would have a good business. We’ve had the business for three years. We’ve grown the top line by about 50 per cent and bottom line by 100 per cent at least.
“I really enjoy it. I put every part of the franchise system to the test, try to push every system to breaking point. I want to be sure it all works.
“The mood of the franchisees towards a Penfold being hands-on has been fantastic, they love it. Some were certain that I would fail!
“I’m much better informed as a non-executive and it really helps to have that visibility.”