Charles Batt’s Parramatta MBE has won the franchise group’s Franchise of the Year award, which was sponsored by Konica Minolta.
Batt started his store 13 years ago, and now has one of the most successful print franchises in the country, built on developing client relations and developing multiple revenue streams.
“It’s exciting because there are a lot of great operators around the country and to get selected is a fantastic recognition of all the work we put in,” he told Print21.
Annual turnover is in excess of $1m, with the company having the biggest store of any MBE operation in Australia.
“Our revenues are the highest in Australia, but it’s not about revenue – it’s about who represents the franchise best across the group, and the only ones with visibility of that are at head office,” said Batt.
Print is the core of the business, representing more than four fifths of revenue, with commercial print supplemented by new areas such as promotional products and workwear.
It runs a suite of Fuji Xerox presses, with runs of anything from two to two million handled in house, according to Batt.
He said, “The business model for all the MBEs is essentially the same – the difference is that I’ve deliberately focused on the print aspect of the business, so I’ve employed a dedicated in-house graphic designer, and three years ago I put in a Fuji Xerox 1000i colour press, which does metallic gold and silver plus clear gloss.
“It means we can take on much bigger jobs and run them in-house rather than having to outsource, thus reducing turnaround times,” he said.
As well as its printing and mailing work, the franchise also produces trade work for other printers in the area, plus other MBE franchises.
“Print really is for me the main game, and it has an infinite scale – the print market in Australia is so huge there’s no limit to what you can do, especially with the right equipment and the right people, which is what we have here,” said Batt.