Speedy Signs & EmbroidMe
business-to-business brands A SIGN OF SUCCESS

Working nine-to-five may be the subject of pop songs about drudgery, but when it comes to owning your own business there are huge advantages in having regular hours. You can plan your leisure time confidently and attend the same evening and weekend events that your family and friends enjoy.

Speedy Signs and EmbroidMe are two franchises that offer the nine-to-five, Monday to Friday lifestyle because they predominantly focus on the business market. ‘But it’s not just the hours that attract our franchisees,’ says franchisor Grant Archibald, ‘it’s also the fact that the business-to-business sector has been very buoyant in recent years. Companies making improvements that will give them a competitive edge and a major component of that is better branding – which is what we specialise in. As a result, the group has just notched up 24 consecutive months of same-store sales growth,’ he says proudly.

Speedy Signs and EmbroidMe are sister companies. Speedy Signs is part of the world’s largest signs and graphics franchise and has 22 stores in New Zealand using the latest computerised technology to produce high quality custom signage. EmbroidMe was launched more recently and helps businesses look professional through producing a wide range of branded apparel and promotional items. There are already eight locations here, ‘and room for more in many parts of New Zealand,’ says Grant. ‘With over 1000 outlets in 40 countries world-wide, Speedy Signs and EmbroidMe are a well-proven model.’

‘Both franchises offer sensible hours and bullet-proof trading. They are turn-key operations which can be run by anyone with a head for business and the ability to communicate well with their fellow business people,’ says Grant. ‘You don’t need any previous industry experience or require an expensive retail location: just a production space and high-visibility showroom where the customers can see, touch and feel the products and even, in the case of EmbroidMe, try garments on. There is no requirement for major investment in stock, ensuring a good cash flow, and staffing levels are low with no expensive specialist skills required. Above all, the businesses are affordable: most franchisees have taken advantage of finance packages that have allowed them to get into business for a little over $100,000 in equity.’

Our Business Went Ballistic

Old school friends Darren Burborough and Richard Haigh opened their Speedy Signs store in Rotorua in 2007. Four and a half years later, they realised that the EmbroidMe franchise would make an ideal companion business by adding branded apparel and promotional products to the various types of signage they offered.

They were expecting to generate some additional business for their already successful Speedy Signs operation, but, says Darren, ‘It was almost as if a switch had been turned on. The day we opened EmbroidMe our business went ballistic, and it has not slowed down since. We are greatly involved in the community and we do a lot of local promotion, but all this extra growth was simply springing off our existing database. Work was coming to our door, with very little effort from us. We have never turned down any job, however small, and it is that kind of service that keeps customers coming back – very often with big orders down the track.’

Work/Life Balance

Such is the strength of the Speedy Signs and EmbroidMe brands that Adam and Kathryn Cullen integrated their own small sign-writing business into a new Speedy Signs Dunedin franchise ten years ago. ‘We felt the systems and marketing were superior to anything we could do,’ explains Kathryn, ‘and we were not wrong. We built a million-a-year turnover in our Speedy Signs business alone, so when the opportunity to acquire the EmbroidMe brand came up, we seized it. It felt like a natural progression as the systems are much the same, and we knew the business was run by good, honest people in Grant and his experienced support team.’

A major component in the operation of a Speedy Signs or EmbroidMe store is the element of work/life balance. Despite operating the two businesses, Kathryn and Adam Cullen enjoy a good family life with their two small children. ‘In fact both I and my sales manager have small children and we are both part-time,’ Kathryn says. ‘We manage to juggle school events and time off for our family quite satisfactorily. Neither Adam nor I has any formal background in business – we’ve very much learned as we have gone along. But that is the great strength of the franchise: by following the system, it is relatively easy to build a good solid business. We make sure our service is top-notch and our turn-around times are sharp, and that keeps us well ahead of our competitors.’

Grant emphasises that the Speedy Signs and EmbroidMe brands are not only highly complementary but in some situations can easily be operated under one roof. ‘The pilot co-brand store in Rotorua is demonstrating the potential, and we are very keen to expand that concept into some smaller provincial centres – especially Gisborne, Wanganui, Napier, Queenstown and Timaru. If you’re serious about getting into a solid business with real potential, call me today and find out more about EmbroidMe and/or Speedy Signs.’

This advertorial is taken from Franchise New Zealand magazine Volume 20 Issue 4 

Contact details for Speedy Signs and EmbroidMe

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