Evan Foster, Global Director, United Franchise Group (UFG), joined us for a brief chat at the Sydney Franchising & Business Opportunities Expo, August 2022.

We covered some of the key aspects of the Signarama franchise business including the type of people that are best suited, any common misconceptions about the brand or industry, as well as what he loves about what he does and more..

What is your business?

“So who’s Signarama? 

We’re the world's leading sign and graphics franchise. We've been going since 1986, been in Australia since 1998. We now have more than 100 locations across the country. 

Where are you located?

Yeah, we're like Cairns to Hobart and Sydney to Perth and a lot of places in between. So we're really the only person in our industry that has the coverage that we do to look after signage projects wherever you are. 

What do you love about the business and what you do?

It's that dynamic and the technology changes and evolves and allows us to do more things and produce more products for customers. It's been a great business to be a part of over the years.

What do you look for in the right-fit person to be a franchise owner, can you describe them?

As a Signarama franchisee, there's a misconception that you need to have a background in the signage industry. In fact, 95% of our franchisees over the journey have come from outside the industry. 

We really want someone that's going to get out from behind the computer and go and meet customers and has a real sales and marketing attitude towards growing the business. We'll help you employ and train the people that will design and make the signs. We want you to be out there building customer relationships. 

What’s a common misconception you believe people have about your brand or niche?

Yeah, probably that you need to have the experience beforehand or you need to feel comfortable with the signs and the terminology when you get out there at the end of the day.

Customers just want value for money and they want you to take a hassle off their desk. A lot of people don't know about signage, so they just want someone to be able to kind of take care of that for them. And that's really where our guys come into the to the fore. 

What would your advice or guidance be to people looking to get into their own business?

The first 12 months are going to have to work hard, there's no doubt about it. Even though franchising is a system and it has a model and a proven track record, you still have to work hard. 

There's no such thing as any guarantees. So how you get into it, you know, the first 12 months will be will be difficult. There will be challenges. But you push through it and it does get easier. 

What is your key focus for the next 12-18 months?

Yeah, for us, we're always growth focused. So whether it's in growing the number of franchisees that we've got helping our existing franchisees grow their business, there's going to be a lot more technological advancement coming into the industry, not just in the front of house stuff that we do, but also some some back house administrative stuff, whether it's ecommerce solutions or other pieces of equipment that we use. 

So we're always evolving. You can't you can't stay still in this industry. You've got to keep evolving to stay ahead.”