Franchise owners Jag Khairjani and Durga Murjani celebrated three years at Minuteman Press in Footscray, Victoria by winning the Top Overall Performance Award from franchisor Minuteman Press International.
“Jag Khairjani and Durga Murjani bought the Minuteman Press franchise in Footscray, Victoria in June of 2020, at the height of the pandemic in Australia,” said a press release from Minuteman Press International.
“Today, as they celebrate nearly 3 years in business, Jag and Durga share how they have grown their business and emerged stronger than ever. They have consistently hit sales milestones and are also thrilled to have received the Top Overall Performance Award from their franchisor Minuteman Press International.”
You bought Minuteman Press in Footscray in June of 2020 – what have the last 3 years been like for you as business owners and how have you grown your business?
Jag & Durga:
“The past 3 years were challenging at the beginning (with pandemic restrictions impacting how businesses were able to operate) but we have worked hard to reach out to customers and grow our business. We chose to use this to our advantage and took this time to really understand the ins and outs of printing and also to engage and learn from our experienced team.
"The pandemic also gave us the opportunity to explore how our clients and prospective clients can use printing to promote, market and rebrand themselves, particularly for those businesses that have been meaning to refresh their brand for some time, but haven’t had a chance. This really allowed us to connect with our local small business community and show them that printing was more than just books and flyers; it is a super diverse and beneficial tool that businesses can use to engage their customers."
What does the Top Overall Performance Award mean to you?
“Receiving the Top Overall Performance Award meant a lot to us, especially as relatively new operators. It showed us that our efforts in increasing product quality and diversity, as well as our attempt to engage with our customers has helped us to be recognised as a high-performing location. It also really reflects the hard work of our team that have worked day in, and day out, with us to help grow the business and really thrive. This award is a team award that we are extremely proud of."
What are the three biggest keys to your success?
- “Engaging with other small businesses within the community, through networking events and face-to-face interactions (where we were allowed).
- Having a strong, experienced, and friendly team that keeps the customers coming back.
- Maintaining strong supplier relationships, and also looking for new suppliers that provide unique products and services that our customers can use to attract attention.”
How do you market your business and acquire your customers?
- “We believe the money we spend on the Internet Marketing Program with the Minuteman Press International Home Office helps us to get new leads and we price accurately to secure new customers.
- We have done email blasts, mailout campaigns, and we are constantly in conversations with our customers to see what new projects they have going on and help deliver their projects on time.
- Word-of-mouth interactions from existing happy customers that can’t wait to tell others about the products and services we offer.”
What do you do to educate existing customers on additional products and services?
- “We found that catalogues and samples were the best ways to showcase the products and services we can offer.
- Customers can also meet with us, or our talented team, that have plenty of ideas of new or additional products and services that could benefit them and their growth.
- We display new products at the front counter and also announce them to our clients so that they are aware of how we are aiming to be a one stop shop for their marketing and promotion ideas.”
What are your high demand products and key growth areas?
“We have a very diverse client base and we have noticed that our customers require a variety of products. Our business spreads over a lot of the products and industries and does not rely on any few products or one industry.”
What has the franchise support from Minuteman Press International been like for you?
“In addition to the local support we receive from Regional VP Glenn Coyle, Minuteman Press FLEX software is an amazing tool that has been provided to us in this franchise. It helps us to put together quotes without wasting a lot of time and also gives us a breakdown of material costs and labour costs, which in turn helps us to understand our costs and maintain our profits. We love how FLEX helps us to respond to our customer enquiries and get a quote out to them because we believe that if we can get a quote back to them at the earliest time frame, we stand a good chance to secure the order. And knowing profits and reading the reports help us to always make sure that we are making enough money to be sustainable in our business.”
What advice would you give to other business owners?
Jag:
“I have operated several businesses and I have always said that one owner/operator needs to be working on the business all the time as we can very easily get distracted and get stuck in the office or the production room. The business needs someone to look at the overall picture at all times.”
For more information on Minuteman Press in Footscray, visit their website: https://minuteman.com/au/locations/vic/footscray/
Learn more about Minuteman Press franchise opportunities at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com.au
