Episode#53

Stephen Penfold lives a family business legacy that links closely back to the infancy of modern Australia as far back as 1820, with the Penfold family directly involved in the business since 1880.

A passionate franchise supporter who was just the second inductee into the Franchise Council of Australia Hall of Fame (FCA), and founding member of the Franchising Association back in the mid 1980’s that would go on to become the FCA, Stephen is Australian franchise history personified.

In Episode#53 - Experience through many facets of the printing industry since the 1950’s, Stephen was a spearhead of ‘flexible packaging’ into the Australian market - technology that dramatically altered shelf-life of supermarket foods, an experience that taught him the crucial role of customer relationships - a key competitive advantage.

While moving into running the W.C.Penfolds stationary division after 10 years in flexible packaging, and eventually growing it to 21 locations, the quick printing technology emergence set him and the business on a new path. An ill-fated attempt to place quick printing facilities in-store early on, resulted in the eventual search and discovery of the Kwik Kopy franchise business in America.

With franchising almost entirely new in the Australian market at this time in the early 1980’s, Stephen set about growing a franchise network off the guidance of overseas benchmarking, and was effectively playing a key role in building the franchise sector in Australia today as we know it.

Circumstances eventually saw Stephen and wife Barb make a scary and  important decision to put it all ‘on the line’, to buy the Kwik Kopy brand from the main company and embark on a journey that eventually brings the Penfold family to today and 100+ Kwik Kopy franchise locations.

0:00 Intro

0:40 Foundational Hall of Fame Member for Franchise Council of Australia

1:28 Convict origins of the business way back in Australian history

4:43 The main product offering being general commercial printing for many years

5:40 The business’ evolution through the years as a typical commercial printer for all types of clients and one stationary store

7:23 Stephen’s initial involvement into the business after a grounding into the printing industry as a labourer in varying tasks in printing

8:53 Back to the Penfolds business into the 1960’s after learning the trade as well an apprenticeship in England

9:44 Flexible packaging and the new technology around that in the late 1950’s and learning this process and the impact it had on life and food packaging in particular

10:40 Back to Australia and started a division of W.C. Penfolds called ‘Flexible Packaging’ and the equipment required was a huge investment after seeing this as the future

11:57 Enjoying his time for 10 years working in the flexible packaging field and the key learning that relationships with customers is crucial

13:19 What it was like running a public company, and buying independent printer businesses to create profit centres 

15:03 At the end of the 1960’s they had one stationary store and Stephen moved on to run that part of the business

15:43 The plan for growing the stationary business via sales growth and more outlets

17:00 Creating a benchmarking group of international stationary businesses as Stephen couldn’t find the same connection in Australia and what he learnt

20:25 Eventually built to 21 stationary stores and looking back thinks Penfolds could have been Officeworks

21:10 Finding Quick printing after a change in technology and seeing this in America and starting printing stores in the back of stationary stores, which initially didn’t work well and why

23:32 Going overseas to find out who is quick printing very well to learn, and finding Kwik Kopy

24:30 Going to meet Bud Hadfield, the creator of Kwik Kopy with 700 franchises in the USA

28:00 Impression of the Kwik Kopy business at that early stage in America

29:26 Bringing Kwik Kopy to Australia starting in 1981 knowing very little about franchising

32:13 Franchising was very early stages in Australia and challenges in changing laws in franchising in NSW then Federally and moving to establishing a Franchising Association for advocacy

35:28 The growth trajectory of the Kwik Kopy franchise in Australia early on

37:05 A franchisee who was unhappy with their level of income threatened to take legal action and the Chairman decided they didn’t like franchising and wanted to sell the business, and Stephen and wife Barb bought the business

39:38 How precarious the position was they were in buying the franchise system at the time

40:35 Franchising was new in Australia and after the 1980’s recession people wanted to buy franchises and the business went from 14 to 60 locations within 3 years

41:05 Point of difference where competitors focusing on training to be a printer, a total different philosophy

41:41 The family involvement moving forward in the business and leadership transition

43:12 Passion for franchising and the joy in it

46:31 Wrap up

Podcast Produced by: magnetic business media

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