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.
Episode Timeline
- 0:00 – Intro
- 0:40 – Foundational Hall of Fame Member for Franchise Council of Australia
- 1:28 – Convict origins of the business in Australian history
- 4:43 – Main product offering: general commercial printing
- 5:40 – Business evolution as a typical commercial printer + stationary store
- 7:23 – Stephen’s entry into the business after early printing industry work
- 8:53 – Back to Penfolds in the 1960s after trade apprenticeship in England
- 9:44 – Flexible packaging innovations & new technology in late 1950s
- 10:40 – Starting ‘Flexible Packaging’ division of W.C. Penfolds
- 11:57 – 10 years in flexible packaging & importance of customer relationships
- 13:19 – Running a public company & acquiring independent printers
- 15:03 – Moving on to run the stationary store division
- 15:43 – Growth plan for stationary business via sales & outlets
- 17:00 – Creating benchmarking group with global stationary businesses
- 20:25 – Building to 21 stationary stores (Penfolds could’ve been Officeworks)
- 21:10 – Discovering quick printing from America & initial failures
- 23:32 – Overseas research on quick printing, discovering Kwik Kopy
- 24:30 – Meeting Bud Hadfield, creator of Kwik Kopy
- 28:00 – First impressions of Kwik Kopy in USA
- 29:26 – Bringing Kwik Kopy to Australia in 1981, little franchising knowledge
- 32:13 – Early franchising challenges & establishing advocacy association
- 35:28 – Early growth trajectory of Kwik Kopy franchise in Australia
- 37:05 – Franchisee dispute, chairman exits, Stephen & Barb buy business
- 39:38 – Precarious position of owning franchise system
- 40:35 – 1980s recession boom: growth from 14 to 60 locations in 3 years
- 41:05 – Point of difference: philosophy beyond printer training
- 41:41 – Family involvement & leadership transition
- 43:12 – Passion for franchising & the joy in it
- 46:31 – Wrap Up
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.
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.
